„,© 


LIFE 

AND 

REMARKABLE  ADVENTURES 

OF 

& 

(A    NATIVE    OP    CRANSTON,    RHODE-ISLAND.) 

WHO  WAS  A  SOLDIER  IN  THE 

AMERICAN  REVOLUTION, 

And  took  a  distinguished  part  in  the  Battle  of  Bunker 
Hill  (in  Which  he  received  three  wounds,)  after 
which  he  was  taken  Prisoner  by  the  British,  convey- 
ed to  England,  where  for  30  years  he  obtained  a 
livelihood  for  himself  and  family,  by  crying  "  Old 
Chairs  to  Mend"  through  the  Streets  of  London.—* 
In  May  last,  by  the  assistance  of  the  American  Con 
sul,  he  succeeded  (in  the  79th  year  of  his  age)  ia 
obtaining  a  passage  to  his  native  country,  after  an 
absence  of  48  years. 


PROVIDEXCE: 

Printed  by  HENRY  TRUMBULL — 1824. 
(Price  28  Cents.) 


DISTRICT  OF  RH^DE  ISLAND  TO  WIT: 
BE  IT  REMEMBtRfcD  Tnat  on  the  thirtieth  day  of 
January  one  Thouband  eight  hundred  and  twenty  four 
and  in  the  forty  eighth  year  of  the  Independence  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  HENRY  TRUM- 
BULL,  of  said  District,  deposited  in  tins  office  the 
title  of  a  bock,  ihe  right  whereof  he  claims  as  author, 
in  the  following  woids,  to  wit :— «•  Life  and  Remarka- 
ble Adventures,  of  Israel  R  Potter,  a  native  ol  Crans- 
ton Rhode  Island — who  was  a  soldier  in  the  American 
Revolution,  and  took  a  distinguished  part  in  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill  (in  which  he  received  three  wounds) 
after  which  he  was  taken  Prisoner  by  the  British,  and 
conveyed  to  England  where  for  thirty  years  he  attain- 
cd  a  livelihood  for  himself  and  family  by  crying  '*  old 
Chairs  to  mend"  through  the  Streets  of  London — In 
May  last  by  the  assUtance  of  the  American  Consul 
he  succeeded  in  (the  79th  year  of  his  age)  in  obtain- 
ing a  passage  to  his  uaiive  Country  after  an  absence  of 
48  years." 

In  conformity  to  an  Act  of  Congress  entillec!  "  An 
Act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  secuii  g 
the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books  to  the  authors 
and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  time  there 
in  mentioned"  and  also  to  an  act  entitled  **  An  Act 
for  the  encouragement  of  learning  by  securing  the  co- 
pies of  maps  charts,  and  book,  to  the  authors  and  pro- 
prietors ot  such  copies  during  the  time  therein  men. 
tioned,  and  extending  the  benefit  thereof  to  the  Art  of 
designing,  engraving,  and  etching,  historical,  and  other 
prints." 

Witness, — BENJAMIN  CCWELL, 

Clerk  of  the  Rhode  Island  District. 


TO  THE  PUBLIC. 


IN  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  attempted  a 
simple  narrative  of  the  lite  and  extraordinary  ad- 
ventures of  one  of  the  few  survivors  who  fought 
and  bled  for  American  Independence.  There  is  not 
probably  another  now  living  who  took  an  equally  ac- 
tive part  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  whose  life  has 
been  marked  with  more  extraordinary  events,  and 
who  has  drank  deeper  of  the  cup  of  adversity,  than 
Ihe  aged  veteran  with  whose  History  we  now  beg 
liberty  to  present  the  American  public.  Doomed 
by  the  fate  of  War  to  be  early  seperated  from  kindred 
and  friends,  and  to  be  conveyed  by  a  foreign  Le  u 
prisoner  of  war  from  his  native  land,  to  a  iar  distant 
country,  where  after  having  for  48  yeais  expeiien- 
ced  almost  every  hardship  and  deprivation  of  which 
adverse  fortune  is  productive,  providence  appears  at 
length  to  have  so  far  interfered  in  his  behalf,  as  to 
provide  means  whereby  he  has  been  enabled  at  an 
advanced  age  once  move  to  visit  and  inhale  the  pure 
air  of  his  native  land.  At  the  age  of  Seventy-Nine, 
an  age  in  which  it  cannot  be  expected  tha.t  the  lamp 
of  human  life  can  long  remain  unextinguished,  he 
has  arrived  among  us,  in  a  state  of  penury  and  want, 
to  seek  in  common  with  his  countrymen  the  enjoy- 
ment cf  a  few  ti"  the  blessings  produced  by  Amcr- 


lean  valour,  in  her  memorable  conflict  with  the 
mother  country,  and  in  which  he  took  a  distinguish- 
cd  part* 

As  it  yet  remains  doubtful  whether  (in  consquence 
of  his  long  absence)  he  will  be  so  fortunate  as  to  be 
included  in  that  number  to  whom  Government  has 
granted  pensions  for  their  Revolutionary  services,  it 
is  to  obtain  if  possible  a  humble  pittance  as  a  remu- 
neration, in  part,  for  the  unprecedented  privations 
and  sufferings  of  which  he  has  been  the  unfortunate 
subject,  that  he  is  now  induced  to  present  the  pub- 
lic with  the  following  concise  and  simple  narration 
tf  the  most  extraordinary  incidents  of  his  life. 


< 


LIFE  AND  ADVENTURES 


OF 


ISRAEL  R.  POTTER, 


I  WAS  born  of  reputable  parents  in  the  town  of 
Cranston,  State  of  Rhode  Island,  August  1st,  1744, 
—1  continued  with  my  parents  there  in  the  full  en- 
joyment of  parental  affection  and  indulgence,  un- 
til I  arrived  at  the  age  of  18,  when,  having  formed 
an  acquaintance  with  the  daughter  of  a  Mr.  Richard 
Gardner,  a  near  neighbour,  for  whom  (in  the  opin- 
ion of  my  friends)  entertaining  too  great  a  degree 
of  partiality,  I  was  repremanded  and  threatened  by 
them  with  more  severe  punishment,  if  my  visits 
were  not  discontinued.  Disappointed  in  my  inten- 
tions of  forming  an  union  (when  of  suitable  age) 
with  one  whom  I  really  loved,  1  deemed  the  con- 
duct of  my  parents  in  this  respect  unreasonable  and 


6  LIFE    AND   ADVENTURES 

oppressive,  and  formed  the  determination  to  leave 
then),  for  the  .purpose  of  seeking  another  home  and 
other  friends.  '•«*•'<- 

It  was  on  Sunday^  while  the  family  were  at  meet- 
.ingvthajt  i,patfeed'up  as  many  Articles  of  my  cloadi- 
•ingrai  could  be  contained  in  a '  pocket  handkerchief, 
which,  with  a  small  quantity  of  provision,  I  convey- 
ed to  and  secreted  in  a  piece  of  woods  in  the  rear 
of  my  father's  house  ;  I  then  returned  and  continu- 
ed in  the  house  until  about  9  in  the  evening,  when 
with  the  pretence  of  retiring  to  bed,  I  passed  into 
a  back  room  and  frem  thence  out  of  a  back  door  and 
hastened  to  the  spot  where  I  had  deposited  my 
cloathes,  &c.— it  was  a  warm  summer's  night,  and 
that  I  might  be  enabled  to  travel  with  the  more  fa- 
cility the  succeeding  day,  I  lay  down  at  the  foot  of  a 
tree  and  reposed  myself  until  about  4  in  the  morning 
when  1  arose  and  commenced  my  journey,  travelling 
westward,  with  an  intention  of  reaching  if  possible 
the  new  countries,  which  1  had  heard  highly  spoken 
of  as  affording  excellent  prospects  for  industrious 
and  enterprizing  young  men— to  evade  the  pursuit 
of  my  friends,  by  whom  I  knew  1  should  be  early 
missed  and  diligently  sought  for,  I  confined  my  trav- 
el to  ihe  woods  and  shunned  the  public  roads,  until 
I  had  reached  the  distance  cf  about  12  miles  from 
my  father's  house. 

At  noon  the  succeeding  day  1  reached  Hartford, 
in  Connecticut,  and  applied  to  a  farmer  in  that  town 
for  work|  and  for  whom  I  agreed  to  labour  for  one 


OF    ISRAEL  R.     POTTER.  / 

wonth  for  *he  sum  of  six  dollars  Having  comple- 
ted my  month's  work  to  the  satisfaction  of  my  em« 
plover  1  received  my  money  and  started  from  Hart- 
ford for  Otter  Creek;  but,  when  I  reached  Spring- 
field,  I  met  with  a  man  hound  to  the  Cahos  country, 
and  who  offered  me  four  do  lars  to  accompany  him, 
of  which  offer  I  accepted  and  the  next  morning  we 
left  Springfield  and  in  a  canoe  ascended  Connecticut 
river,  and  in  about  two  weeks  after  much  hard  labor 
in  paddling  and  pol;ng  the  boat  against ,  the  currenti 
we  reached  Lebanon,  (N.  H.)  the  place  of  our  des- 
tination. Ir  was  with  som  e  difficulty  and  not  until  I 
had  procured  a  writ,  oy  the  assistance  of  a  respecta- 
ble innkeeper  in  Lebanon,  by  the  name  of  Hill,  that 
I  obtained  from  my  last  employer  the  four  dollars 
which  he  had  agreed  to  pay  me  for  my  services. 

From  Lebanon  I  crossed  the  river  to  New-Hart- 
ford (then  N.  Y.)  where  I  bargained  with  a  Mr, 
Brink  of  that  town  for  200  acres  of  new  land,  lying 
in  New  Hampshire,  and  for  which  L  was  to  labour 
for  him  four  months.  As  this  may  appear  to  some 
a  small  consideration  f.,r  so  g-eat  a  number  of  acres 
of  land,  it  may  be  well  here  to  acquaint  the  reader 
with  the  situation  of  the  country  in  that  quarter,  at 
that  early  period  of  its  settlement  —which  was  an 
almost  impenetrable  wilderness,  containing  but  few* 
civilized  inhabitants,  far  distantly  situated  from  each 
other  and  from  any  considerable  settlement  j  and 
whose  temporary  habitations  with  a  few  exceptions 
were  constructed  of  logs  in  their  natural  state— the 


8  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

woods  abounded  with  wild  beasts  of  almost 
description  peculiar  to  this  country,  nor  were  the 
few  inhabitants  at  that  time  free  from  serious  appre- 
hension  of  being  at  some  unguarded  moment  sud- 
denly attacked  and  destroyed,  or  conveyed  .nto  cap- 
tivity by  the  savages,  who  from  the  commencement 
of  the  F  ench  war,  had  improved  every  favourable 
opportunity  to  cut  oft'  the  defenceless  inhabitants  of 
the  frontier  towns. 

Alter  the  expiration  of  my  four  months  labour  the 
person  who  had  promised  me  a  deed  of  200  acres 
of  land  thrrefor,  having  refused  to  fulfill  his  engage* 
nnents.I  was  obliged  to  engage  with  a  party  of  h.s  Ma* 
jesty's  Surveyors  at  fifteen  shillings  per  month  as  an 
assistant  chain  bearer,  to  survey  the  wild  unse'tkd 
lands  bordering  on  the  Connecticut  river,  to  its 
source.  It  was  in  the  winter  season,  and  the  snow 
so  deep  that  it  was  impossible  to  travel  without 
snow  shoes— at  the  close  of  each  day  we  enkind- 
led a  fire,  cooked  our  victuals  and  erected  with  the 
branches  of  hemlock  a  temporary  hut,  which  serv- 
ed us  tor  a  shelter  for  the  night.  The  Surveyors 
having  completed  their  business  returned  to  Leba- 
non, after  an  absence  of  about  two  months.  Receiv- 
ing my  wages  I  purchased  a  fowling-piece  and  ma- 
munition  therewith,  and  for  the  four  succeeding 
months  devoted  my  time  in  hunting  Deer,  Beavers, 
&c,  in  which  1  was  very  successful,  as  in  the  four 
mon  hs  I  obtained  as  many  skins  of  these  animals 
as  produced  me  forty  dollars— *  with  my  money  I  pu-r- 


OF    ISRAEL   R.    POTTER*  9 

chased  of  a   Mr    John    Marsh,    100  acres    of  new 
land    lying  on  Water  Qutchy  River,    (so  called)  a- 
bout  five  miles  from  Hartford,  (N  Y.)  on  this  land 
|  went  immediately  to   work,  erected    a   small    log 
hut  thereon*  and  in  two  summers  without  any  assis- 
tance, cleared  up  thirty  acres  fit  for  sowing — in  the 
winter  seasons  I  employed  my  time  in  hunting  and 
entrtping  such  animals  whose  hides  and   furs   were 
esteemed  of  the  most   value.     I   remained  in   pos- 
session of  my  land  two  years,  and  then   disposed  oif 
it  to  the  same  person  of  whom    I    purchased  it,  at 
the  advanced  price  of  200  dollars,  and  then  convey- 
ed my  skins  and  furs  which  I  had  collected  the  tvK>* 
preceding    winters,    to  NO.   4,  (now   Charlestowa,) 
where  I  exchanged  them  tor   Indian  blankets,  wan*- 
peag,  and  such  other  articles  as  I  could  convenient* 
ly  convey  on  a  hand  sied,  and    with    which  I  started 
for  Canada,  to  barter   with  the   Indians    for   furs.— 
This  proved  a  very  profitable  trip,  as    I    very    soon 
disposed   of  every   article    at  aft    advance  of   more- 
than  two  hundred  per  cent,  and  received  payment  iu 
furs  at  a  reduced  price,  and  lur  which  I  received  i,i 
NO.  4,  SCO  dollars,  cash.     With  this  rncney,  togeth- 
er mth  what  I  was  befoie  in  possession  of,  I   now 
set  out  for  home,  once  more  to  visit  my  parents  at- 
ter  an  absence  of  two  years    and   nine    months,  ir* 
which  time  my  friends  had  not   been  enabled  to  re- 
ceive any  correct  information  of  me.     On  my  arriv* 
al,  so  greatly  effected  were  my  parents   at  the  pre- 
sence of  a  sen  \vhur.;  they  had  considered  daad,  ihui. 

1* 


'10  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

It  was  sometime  before  either  could  become  suffi- 
ciently composed  to  listen  to  or  to  request  me  to 
furnish  them  with  an  account  of  my  travels. 

Soon  after  my  return,  as  some  atonement  for  the 
anxiety  which  I  had  caused  my  parents,  1  presented 
them  with  most  of  the  money  that  I  had  earned  in 
my  absence,  and  formed  the  determination  that  I 
would  remain  with  them  contented  at  home,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  conclusion  from  the  welcome  recep- 
tion that  I  met  with,  that  they  had  repented  of  their 
opposition*  and  had  become  reconciled  to  my  in- 
tended union—  but,  in  this,  I  soon  found  that  I  was 
mistaken  ;  for.  although  overjoyed  to  see  me  alive} 
whom  they  had  supposed  really  dead,  no  sooner  did 
they  find  that  my  long  absence  had  rather  increased 
than  diminished  my  attachment  for  their  neighbor's 
daughter,  than  their  resentment  and  opposition  ap- 
peared to  increase  in  proportion — in  consequence  of 
which  I  formed  the  determination  again  to  quit  them, 
aud  try  my  fortune  at  sea,  as  I  had  now  arrived  at 
an  age  in  which  I  had  an  unquestionable  right  to 
think  and  act  for  myself. 

After  remaining  at  home  one  month,  I  applied  for 
and  procured  a  birth  at  Providence,  on  board  the 
Sloop ,  Capt.  Fuller,  bound  to  Grenada— hav- 
ing completed  her  loading  (which  consisted  of  stone 
lime,  hoops,  staves,  8tc.)  we  set  sail  with  a  favora- 
ble wind,  and  nothing  worthy  of  note  occurred  until 
the  15th  day  from  that  on  which  we  left  Providence, 
when  the  sloop  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire,  bj  a. 


OF    ISRAEL vR.    POTTER.  li 

smoke  issuing  from  her  hold — the  hatches  were  inn. 
mediately  raised,  but  as  it  was  discovered  that  the 
fire  was  caused  by  water  communicating  with  the 
lime,  it  was  deemed  useless  to  make  any  attempts 
to  extinguish  it— orders  were  immediately  there- 
upon given  by  the  captain  to  hoist  out  the  long 
boat,  which  was  found  in  such  a  leaky  condition  as 
to  require  constant  bailing  to  keep  her  afloat  :  we 
had  only  time  to  put  on  board  a  small  quantity  of 
bread,  a  firkin  of  butter  and  a  ten  gallon  keg  of  wa- 
ter, when  we  embarked,  eight  in  number  to  trust 
ourselves  to  the  mercy  of  the  waves,  in  a  leaky 
boat  and  many  leagues  from  land.  As  our  provi- 
sion was  but  small  in  quantity,  and  it  being  uncer- 
tain how  long  we  might  remain  in  our  perilous  sit- 
uation, it  was  proposed  by  the  capiain  soon  after 
leaving  the  sloop,  that  we  should  put  ourselves  on 
an  allowance  of  one  buiscuit  and  halt  a  pint  of  water 
per  day,  for  each  man,  which  was  readily  agreed 
to  by  all  on  boaid— in  ten  minutes  after  leaving  the 
sloop  she  was  in  a  complete  blaze,  and  presented  an 
awful  spectacle.  With  a  piece  of  the  fi> ing-jib, 
which  had  been  lortunately  thrown  into  the  boat,  we 
made  shift  to  erect  a  sail,  and  proceeded  in  a  south 
west  ditection  in  hopes  to  rct.cn  the  Spanish  maine, 
if  not  so  fortunate  as  to  fall  in  with  some  vessel  in 
our  course — which,  by  the  interposition  of  kind  prov- 
idence in  our  favour,  actually  took  place  the  second 
day  after  leaving  the  sloop- we  were  discovered 
und  picked  up  by  a  Dutch  ship  bound  from  Eusta- 


12  LIFE    AND   ADVENTURES 

tia  to  Holland,  and  from  the  captain  and  crew  met 
with  a  humane  reception,    and   were   supplied  with 
every  necessary  that  the  ship  afforded — we  continu- 
ed on  board  one  week  when  we  fell  in  with  an  A- 
jnerican  sloop  bound  from    Piscataqua   to    Antigua, 
which  received  us  all  on  board  and  conveyed   us  in 
safety  to  the  port  of  her  destination.     At  Antigua  I 
got  a  birth  on  board  an  American  brig  bound  to  Porto 
Rico,  and  from  thence  to  Eusta'ia.     At  Eustatia  I 
received  my  discharge  and  entered  on  board  a  Ship 
belonging  to  Nantucket,  and   bound   on  a    whaling 
voyage,  which   proved  an   uncommonly    short  and 
successful  one—  we  returned  to  Nantucket    full  of 
oil  after  an  absence  of  the  ship  irom   that  port  of 
only    16  months.     After    my  discharge  I  continued 
about  one  month  on  the  island,  and   then   took  pas- 
sage for  Providence,  and  from  thence  went  to  Cran- 
ston, once  more  to  visit    my    friends,  with    whom  I 
continued  three  weeks,  and  then   returned  to  Nan- 
tucket.    From  Nantucket  I  made   another  whaling 
voyage  to  the    Scuih  Seas    and   after  an  absence  of 
three  years,  (in  which    time   I   experienced   almost 
all  the  hardbhips  and  deprivations  peculiar  to  Whale- 
men in  long  voyages)  I  succeeded  by   the  blessings 
of  providence    in    reaching   once    more   my  native 
home,  perfectly  sick  of  the  sea,  and  willing  to  re- 
turn to  the  bush  and  exchange  a  mariner's  life  for 
one  less  hazardous  and  fatiguing, 

I  remained    with  my    friends  at    Cranston   a  few 
•weeks,  and  then  hired  myself  to  a  Mr.  James  W<> 


*Y   ISRAEL   R.    HOTTER-  13 

terman,  of  Coventry,  for  12  months,  to  work  at 
farming.  This  was  in  the  year  i774>  and  I  contin- 
ued with  him  about  six  months,  when  the  difficul- 
ties which  had  for  some  time  prevailed  beiween  the 
Americans  and  Britons,  had  now  arrived  at  that 
crisis,  as  to  render  it  certain  that  hostilities  would 
soon  commence  in  good  earnest  between  the  two  na- 
tions ;  in  consequence  of  which,  the  Americans  at 
this  period  began 'to  prepare  themselves  for  the  e- 
vent — companies  were  formed  in  several  of  the 
towns  in  New  England,  who  received  the  appella- 
tion of  •"  minute  men,"  and  who  were  to  hold  them- 
selves in  readiness  to  obey  the  first  summons  of 
their  officers,  to  march  at  a  moment's  notice  j— a 
company  of  this  kind  was  formed  in  Coventry,  into 
which  I  enlisted,  and  to  the  command  of  which 
Edmund  Johnson,  of  said  Coventry,  was  appoint- 
ed. 

It  was  on  a  Sabbath  morning  that  news  was  re- 
ceived of  the  destruction  of  the  provincial  stores  at 
Cone  rd,  and  of  the  massacre  of  our  countrymen 
at  Lexington,  by  a  detached  party  of  the  British 
troops  from  Boston  :  and  1  immediately  thereupon  re- 
ceived a  summons  from  the  captain,  'to  be  prepared 
to  march  with  the  company  early  the  morning  ensu- 
ing— and?  although  I  felt  not  less  willing  to  obey 
the  call  of  my  country  at  a  minute's  notice,  and4  to 
-face  htr  foes,  than  did  the  gallant  Putnam,  yet,  the 
nature  of  the  summons  did  not  render  it  necessary 
&r  me,  like  him,  to  quit  my  plough  in  the  field  \  as 
3 


44  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

having  the  day  previous  commenced  the  ploughing  ' 
of  a  field  often  or  twelve  acres,  that  I  might  not  leave 
my  work  half  done,  I  improved  the  sabbath  to  com- 
plete it. 

3y  the  break  of  day  Monday  morning  I  swung 
fny  knapsack,  shouldered  my  musket,  and  with  the 
company  commenced  my  march  with  a  quick  step 
for  Charlestown,  where  we  arrived  about  sunset,  and 
remained  encamped  in  the  vicinity  until  about  noon 
of  the  16th  June;  when,  having  been  previously 
joined  by  the  remainder  of  the  regiment  from  Rhode 
Island,  to  which  our  company  was  attached,  we 
received  orders  to  proceed  and  join  a  detachment 
of  about  1000  American  troops,  which  had  that 
morning  taken  possession  of  Bunker-Hill}  and  which 
we  had  orders  inn  mediately  to  fortify,  in  the  best 
manner  that  circumstances  would  admit  of.  We 
laboured  all  night  without  cessation  and  with  very 
Kttle  refreshment,  and  by  the  dawn  of  day  succeed- 
ed in  throwing  up  a  redoubt  of  eight  or  nine  rods 
square.  As  soon  as  our  works  were  discovered  by 
the  British  in  the  morning,  they  commenced  a  heavy 
fire  upon  us^  which  was  supported  by  a  fort  on 
Copp's  hill ;  we  however  (under  the  command  of 
the  intrepid  Putnam)  continued  to  labour  like  be- 
vers  until  our  breast-work  was  completed* 

About  noon,  a  number  of  the  enemy's  boats  and 
barges,  filled  with  troops,  landed  at  Charlestown, 
and  commenced  a  deliberate  march  to  attack  us— 
we  were  now  harangued  by  Gen.  Putnariy  who  re- 


07   ISRAEL  R.     POTTER,  ?£ 

minded  us,  that  exhausted  as  we  were,  by  our  in- 
cessant labour  through  the  preceding  night,  the  most 
important  part  of  our  duty  was  yet  to  be  performed* 
and  that  much  would  be  expected  from  so  great  a 
number  of  excellent  marksmen — he  charged  us  to 
be  cool,  and  to  reserve  our  fire  until  the  enemy  ap- 
proached so  near  as  to  enable  us  to  see  the  white  of 
their  eyes— when  within  about  ten  rods  of  our  works 
we  gave  them  the  contents  of  our  muskets,  and 
which  were  aimed  with  so  good  effect,  as  soon  to 
cause  them  to  turn  their  backs  and  to  retreat  with  a 
much  quicker  step  than  with  what  they  approach- 
ed us.  We  were  now  again  harangued  by  «  old 
General  Put,"  as  he  was  termed,  and  requested  by 
him  to  aim  at  the  officers,  should  the  enemy  renew 
the  attack — which  they  did  in  a  few  moments,  with 
a  reinforcement— their  approach  was  with  a  slow 
step,  which  gave  us  an  excellent  opportunity  to 
obey  the  commands  of  our  General  in  bringing 
down  their  officers,  1  feel  but  little  disposed  to 
boast  of  my  own  performances  on  this  occasion, 
and  will  only  say,  that  alter  devoting-  so  many 
months  in  hunting  the  wild  animals  of  the  wilder- 
ness, while  an  inhabitant  of  New. Hampshire,  the 
reader  will  not  suppose  me  a  bad  or  unexperien- 
ced marksman,  and  that  such  were  the  fare  shots 
which  the  epuletted  red  coats  presented  in  the  two 
attacks,  that  every  shot  which  they  received  from 
xne,  1  am  confident  on  another  occasion  would  have., 
produced  me  a  deer  skin. 


16  LlIE    ANB   ADVENTURES 

So  warm  was  the  reception  that  the  enemy  met 
with  in  their  second  attack)  that  they  again  found  it 
necessary  to  retreat,  but  soon  after  receiving  a  fresh 
reinforcement,  a  third  assault  was  made,  in  which, 
in  consequence  of  our  ammunition  Jailing,  they  too 
Well  succeeded— a  close  and  bloody  engagement 
now  ensued— to  fight  our  way  through  a  very  con- 
siderable body  of  the  enemy,  with  clubbed  muskets 
{for  there  were  not  one  in  twenty  of  us  provided  with 
.bayonets)  were  now  the  only  means  left  us  to  es- 
cape ;— -  the  conflict,  which  was  a  sharp  and  severe 
one,  is  still  fresh  in  my  memory)  and  cannot  be  for- 
gotten by  me  while  the  scars  of  the  wounds  which  1 
then  received,  remain  to  remind  me  of  it !—  fortu. 
Iiately  for  me,  at  this  critical  moment,  1  was  armed 
with  a  cutlass,  which  although  without  an  edge,  and 
much  rust-eaten.  1  found  of  infinite  more  service  to 
me  than  my  musket— in  one  instance  I  am  certain  it 
was  the  means  of  saving  my  lite— a  blow  with  a  cut- 
lass was  aimed  at  my  head  by  a  British  officer,  which 
I  parried  and  received  only  a  slight  cut  with  the 
point  on  my  right  arm  near  the  elbow,  which  1  was 
then  unconscious  of,  but  this  slight  wound  cost  my 
antagonist  at  the  moment  a  much  more  serious  one, 
which  effectually  disarmed  him,  for  with  one  well 
directed  stroke  I  deprived  him  of  the  power  of  very 
soon  again  measuring  swords  with  a  "  yankee  rebel  I'* 
We  finally  however  should  have  been  mostly  cut  cff> 
and  compelled  to  yield  to  a  superiour  and  belter  e- 
quipped  force,  had  net  a  body  of  three  or  four  hurr 


OF    ISRAEL   R     POTTED  IT 

dred  Connecticut  men  formed  a  temporary  breast 
work,  with  rails  8cc  and  by  which  means  held  the 
enemy  at  bay  until  our  main  body  had  time  to  as- 
cend the  heights,  and  retreat  across  the  neck ;— in 
this  retreat  I  was  less  fortunate  than  many  of  my 
comrads— I  received  two  musket  ball  wounds,  one 
in  my  hip  and  the  other  near  the  ancle  of  my  left  leg 
—  I  succeeded  however  without  any  assistance  in 
reaching  Prospect  Hill,  where  the  main  body  of  the 
Americans  had  made  a  stand  and  commenced  fortify- 
ing—>fro:n  thence  I  was  soon  after  conveyed  to  the 
Hospital  in  Cambridge,  where  my  wounds  were 
dressed  and  the  bullet  extracted  from  my  hip  by  one 
of  the  Surgeons ;  the  house  was  nearly  filled  wkh 
the  poor  fellows  who  like  myself  had  received  wounds 
in  the  late  engagement,  and  presented  a  melAnchoily 
spectacle. 

Bunker-Hill  fight  proved  a  sore  thing  for  the  Brit- 
ish,  and  will  I  doubt  not  bi  long  remembered  by 
them;  while  in  London  I  heard  it  frequently  spoken 
of  by  many  who  had  taken  an  active  part  therein  ? 
some  of  whom  were  pensioners*  asid  bore  indelible 
proofs  of  American  bravery— by  them  the  Yankees 
by  whom  they  were  opposed,  were  not  unfrequently . 
represented  as  a  set  ot  infuriated  beings,  whom  noth- 
ing could  daunt  or  intimidate :  and  who,  after  their 
ammunhion  failed,  disputed  the  ground,  inch  by  inch, 
for  a  full  hour  with  clubbed  muskets,  rusty  swords, 
pitchforks  and  billets  of  wood,  against  the  British 
bayonets. 

2* 


19  LIFE    AND    ADVENTUxl&S 

I  suffered  much  pain  from  the  wound  which  I  re- 
ceived in  my  ?ncle,  the  bone  was  fcadly  fractured  and 
several  pieces  were  extracted  by  the  surgeon,  and  it 
was  six  weeks  before  I  was  sufficiently  recovered  to 
be  able  to  join  my  regiment  quartered  on  Prospect- 
Hifll)  where  they  had  thrown  up  entrenchments  with- 
in the  distance  of  little  more  than  a  mile  of  the  ene- 
my's camp,  which  was  full  in  view,  they  having  en» 
trenched  themselves  on  Bunker-hill  after  the  engage. 
ment. 

On  the  3d  July,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  A- 
mericans,  General  WASHINGTON  arrived  from  the 
south  to  take  command — I  was  then  confined  in  the 
Hospital,  but  as  far  as  my  observations  could  extend* 
he  met  with  a  joyful  reception,  and  his  arrival  was 
welcomed  by  every  one  throughout  the  camp— the 
troops  had  been  long  waiting  with  impatience  for  his 
arrival  as  being  nearly  deslitute  of  ammunition  and 
tbe  British  receiving  reinforcements  daily,  their  pros- 
pects began  to  wear  a  gloomy  aspect. 

The  British  quartered  in  Boston  began  soon  to  suf- 
fer much  from  the  scarcity  of  provisions,  and  Gener- 
al Washington  took  every  precaution  to  prevent  their 
gaining  a  supply— from  the  country  ail  supplies 
could  be  easily  cutoff,  and  to  prevent  their  receiving 
any  from  Tories,  and  other  disaffected  persons  by 
water,  the  General  found  it  necessary  to  equip  two 
or  thiee  armed  vessels  to  intercept  them—among 
these  was  the  brigantine  Washington  of  [0  guns, 
commanded  by  capt.  Martindale,— -as  seamen  a;  this. 


OF   ISRAEL  R.  POTTKB.  i 

time  could  not  easily  be  obtained,  as  most  of  them 
had  enlisted  in  the  land  service,  permission  was  giv- 
en to  any  of  the  soldiers  who  should  be  pleased  lo  ac- 
cept of  the  offer,  to  man  these  vessels — consequently 
myself  with  several  others  of  the  same  regiment  went 
on  board  of  the  Washington,  then  lying  at  Plymouth, 
and  in  complete  order  for  a  cruize. 

We  set  sail  about  the  8th  December,  but  had,  been 
out  but  three  days  when  we  were  captured  by  the 
enemy's  ship  Foy.  of  20  guns,  who  took  us  all  out  and 
put  a  prize  crew  on  board  the  Washington— the  Foy 
.proceeded  with  us  immediately  to  Boston  bay  where 
v?e  was  put  on  board  the  British  frigate  Tartar  and 
orders  given  to  convey  us  to  England.-— VV  hen  two 
or  three  days  out  I  projected  a  scheme  (with  the  as- 
sistance of  my  fellow  prisoners,  72  in  number)  to  take 
the  ship,  in  which  we  should  undoubtedly  have  suc- 
ceeded, as  we  bad  a  number  of  resolute  fellows  on 
board,  had  it  not  been  for  the  treachery  of  a  renegado 
Englishman,  who  betrayed  us — as  i  was  pointed  out 
by  this  fellow  as  the  principal  in  the  plot,  I  was  or- 
dered in  irons  by  the  Officers  of  the  Tartar,  and  in 
which  situaiion  1  remained  until  the  arrival  of  the 
ship  at  Portsmouth  (Eng  )  when  I  was  brought  on 
deck  and  closely  examined,  but  protesting  my  inno- 
cence, and  what  was  very  fortunate  for  me  in  the 
course  of  the  examination,  the  person  by  whom  1  had 
been  betrayed,  having  been  proved  a  British  deserter, 
his  story  was  discredited  .and  I  was  relieved  of  my  i* 
rons* 


39  LIFE    AND    ADVENTUSES 

The  prisoners  were  now  all  thoroughly  cleansed" 
and  conveyed  to  the  marine  hospital  on  shore,  where 
many  of  us  took  the  small-pox  the  na.ural  way,  by 
some  whom  we  found  in  the  hospital  effected  wiih 
that  disease,  and  which  proved  fatal  to  nearly  one 
half  our  number.  From  ihe  hospital  those  of  us  who 
survived  were  conveyed  to  Spitheid,  and  put  on 
board  a  Guard  Ship,  and  where  I  had  been  confined 
with  my  fellow  prisoners  about  one  month,  when  I 
was  ordered  into  the  boat,  to  assist  the  bargemen  (in 
consequence  of  the  absence  of  one  of  their  gang)  in 
rowing  the  lieutenant  on  shore.  As  soon  as  we 
reached  the  shore  and  the  officer  landed,  it  was  pro- 
posed by  some  of  the  boat's  crew  to  resort  tor  a  few 
moments  to  an  ale -house,  in  the  vicinity,  to  treat 
themselves  to  a  few  pots  of  beer ;  which  being  agreed 
to  by  all,  I  thought  this  a  favourable  opportunity  and 
the  only  one  that  might  present  >  to  escape  from  my 
Floating  Prison,  and  felt  determined  not  to  let  it  past 
unimproved  ;  accordingly,  as  the  boat's  crew  were  a* 
bout  to  enter  the  house,  1  expressed  a  necessity  of  my 
seperating  from  them  a  few  moments,  to  which  ihey 
(not  suspecting  any  design,)  readily  assented.  As 
soon  as  1  saw  them  all  snugly  in  and  the  door  clos- 
ed. I  gave  speed  to  my  legs,  and  ran,  as  1  then  con- 
eluded,  about  four  miles  whhout  once  halting—  1 
steered  rny  course  toward  London,  as  when  there 
by  mingling  with  the  crowds  1  thought  it  probable 
that  1  should  be  least  suspected. 

Wften  I  had   reached  the    distance  of  about  teh 


OF  ISRAEL  R,  POTTER.  31 

miles  from  where  I  quit  the  bargemen  and  begin- 
ning to  think  myself  in  little  danger  of  apprehen- 
sion, should  any  of  them  be  sent  by  the  lieutenant  in 
pursuit  of  me,  as  !  was  leisurely  passing  a  public 
house,  1  was  noticed  and  hailed  by  a  naval  officer  at 
the  door  with  "  ahoi,  what  ship  ?"-«l«no  ship."  was 
my  reply,  on  which  he  ordered  me  to  stop,  but  or 
which  I  took  no-other  notice  than  to  observe  to  him 
that  if  he  would  attend  to  his  own  busiuess  I  would 
proceed  quietly  about  mifie---this  rather  increasing 
than  diminishing  his  suspicions  that  I  was  a  deser- 
ter, garbed  as  I  was,  he  gave  chase— finding  my- 
self closely  persued  and  unwilling  again  to  be  made 
a  prisoner  of,  if  it  was  possible  to  escape,  1  had 
once  more  to  trust  to  my  legs,  and  should  have  a- 
gain  succeeded  had  not  ihe  officer,  on  finding  him- 
self likely  vo  be  distanced,  set  up  a  cry  of  "stop 
thief!"  ihis  brought  numbers  out  of  their  houses 
and  work- shops,  who.  joining  in  the  pursuit,  suc- 
ceeded after  a  chace  of  nearly  a  mile  in  overhaul- 
ing me 

Finding  myself  once  more  in  their  power  and  a 
perfect  stranger  to  the  country,  I  deemed  it  vain  to 
attempt  to  deceive  them  with  a  lie,  and  therefore 
made  a  voluntary  confession  to  the  officer  that  I  was 
£  prisoner  of  war,  and  related  to  him  in  what  man- 
ner I  had  that  morning  made  my  escape.  By  the 
officer  I  was  conveyed  back  to  the  Inn,  and  left  in 
custody  of  two  soldiers — the  former  (previous  to  re- 
tiring) observing  to  the  landlord  that  believing  me 


12  L1IE    AND    ADVENTURES 

to  be  a  true  blooded  yankee,  requested  him  to  sup* 
ply  me  at  his  expence  with  as  much  liquor  as  I 
should  call  for. 

The  house  was  thronged  early  in  the  evening  by- 
many  of  the  "  good  and  faithful  subjects  of  King 
George,"  who  had  assembled  to  take  a  peep  at  the 
"  yankee  rebel,"  (as  they  termed  me)  who  had  so 
recently  taken  an  active  part  in  the  rebellious  war, 
then  raging  in  his  Majesty's  American  provinces- 
while  others  came  apparently  to  gratify  a  curiosity 
in  viewing,  for  the  first  time,  an  u  American  Yan- 
kee !"  whom  they  had  been  taught  to  believe  a  kind 
of  non  descripts — beings  of  much  less  refinement 
than  the  ancient  Britains,  and  possessing  Iktle  more 
humanity  than  the  Buccaniers. 

As  for  myself  I  thought  it  best  not  to  be  reserved, 
but  to  reply  readily  to  all  their  inquiries  ;  for  while 
my  mind  Was  wholly  employed  in  devising  a  plan  to 
escape  from  the  custody  of  my  keepers,  so  far  from 
manifesting  a  disposition  to  resent  any  of  the  insuUs 
offered  me,  or  my  country,  to  prevent  any  suspicions 
of  my  designs,  I  feigned  myseit  not  a  little  pleased 
with  their  observations,  and  in  no  way  dissatisfied 
vith  my  situation.  As  the  officer  had  left  orders 
with  the  landlord  to  supply  me  with  as  much  liquor 
as  I  should  be  pleased  to  call  for,  I  felt  determined 
to  make  my  keepers  merry  at  his  expence,  if  possi- 
ble, as  the  best  means  that  I  could  adopt  to  effect 
my  escape. 

The  loyal  group  having  attempted  in  vain  to  irri- 


t>f   ISRAEL    R.    POTTER,  ^3 

late  me,  by  their  mean  and  ungenerous  reflections) 
by  one  (who  observed  that  he  had  frequently  heard 
it  mentioned  that  the  yankees  were  extraordinary 
dancers,)  it  was  proposed  that  I  should  -entertain 
the  company  with  a  jig  !  to  which  1  expressed  a 
willingness  to  assent  with  much  feigned  satisfaction, 
if  a  fiddler  could  be  procured— fortunately  for  them, 
there  was  one  residing  in  the  neighborhood,  who 
was  soon  introduced,  when  1  was  obliged  (although 
much  against  my  owt»  inclination)  to  lake  the  floor 
—  with  the  full  determination)  however  that  if  John 
Bull  was  to  be  thus  diverted  at  the  expence  of  an 
unfortunate  prisoner  of  war,  uncle  Jo,, athan  should 
come  in  for  his  part  of  the  sport  before  morning) 
by  show-ing  them  a  few  Tankee  steps  which  they  then 
Httle  dreamed  of. 

By  my  performances  they  were  soon  satisfied 
tliat  in  this  kind  of  exercise,  I  should  suffer  but 
Httle  in  competition  with  the  most  nimble  footed 
Britain  among  them  :  nor  would  they  release  me 
cntil  I  had  danced  myself  into  a  state  of  perfect 
perspiration  ;  which,  however,  so  far  from  being  any 
disadvantage  to  me,  I  considered  all  in  favour  of 
my  projected  plan  to  escape— tor  while  I  was  pleas- 
ed lo  see  the  flowing  bowl  passing  merrily  about; 
and  not  unfrequently  brought  in  contact  with  the 
lips  of  my  two  keepers,  the  state  of  perspiration 
that  I  was  in,  prevented  its  producing  on  me  any 
intoxicating  effects. 

The  evening  having  become  now  for  spent  and 


24  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

the  company  mostly  retiring  my  keepers  (who, 
to  use  a  sailor's  phrase  1  was  happy  to  discover 
"  half  st  as  over")  having  much  to  my  dissatisfaction 
fun  ished  me  with  a  pair  ot  handcuffs  spread  a  blank- 
et by  the  side  of  their  bed  on  which  i  was  to  re- 
pose for  the  night,  I  feigned  myself  very  grate- 
ful to  them  for  having  huiiiaueiy  fin  nibbed  me  with 
so  comfortable  a  bed,  and  on  which  1  stretched  my- 
self with  much  apparent  unconcern*  and  remained 
quiet  about  one  hour,  when  I  *vas  sure  that  the 
family  had  ail  retired  to  bed  The  important  mo- 
ment had  now  arrived  in  which  1  was  resolved  to 
carry  my  premeditated  plan  into  execution,  or  die 
in  the  attempt — for  certain  I  was  that  it  I  let  this 
opportunity  pass  unimproved,  I  might  have  cause 
to  regret  it  when  it  was  too  late  -that  I  should 
most  assuredly  be  conveyed  early  in  the  morning 
back  to  the  floating  prison  from  which  I  had  so  re- 
cently escaped,  and  where  1  might  possibly  re- 
main confined  until  America  should  obtain  her  in- 
dependence, or  the  differences  between  Great-Britain 
and  her  American  provinces  were  adjusted.  Yet 
should  I  in  my  attempt  to  escape  meet  with  more 
opposition  (u;m  rt-y  keepers,  than  what  1  had  cal- 
culated from  their  apparent  state  of  inebriaty,  the 
contest  I  well  knew  would  be  very  unequal— they 
were  two  full  grown  stout  men,  with  whom  (if 
they  were  assisted  by  no  others)  J  should  have  to 
contend,  handcuffed!  but,  after  mature  delibera* 
tion,  I  resolved  that  however  hazaidous  the  attempt; 
it  should  be  made,  and  that  immediately. 


0»    ISRAEL   R.    POTTER.  25 

After  remaining  quiet,  as  Ibetore  observed,  until 
I  thought  it  probable  ihat  all  had  retired  to  bed  in 
the  house,  I  intimated  to  my  keepers  that  I  was  un- 
der the  necessity  of  requesting  permission  to  retire 
for  a  few  moments  to  the  back  yard  ;  when  both  in- 
stantly arose  and  reeling  towatd  me  seiz.d  each  an 
arm,  and  proceeded  to  conduct  me  through  a  long 
and  narrow  entry  to  the  backdoor,  which  was  no 
sooner  unbolted  and  opr ned  by  one  of  them,  than  I 
tripped  up  the  heels  of  boih  and  laid  them  sprawling, 
and  in  a  moment  was  at  the  garden  wall  seeking  a 
passage  whereby  I  might  gain  the  public  road— a: 
new  and  unexpected  obstacle  now  presented,  for  I 
found  the  whole  garden  enclosed  with  a  smooth  brick- 
tn  wall,  of  the  heighth  of  twelve  feet  at  least,  and 
was  prevented  by  the  darkness  of  the  night  from, 
discovering  an  avenue  leading  therefrom— in  this 
predicament,  niy  only  alternative  was  cither  to  scale 
this  wall  handcuffed  as>  I  was,  and  without  a  moment's 
hesitations  or  to  suffer  myself  to  be  made  a  captive  of 
again  by  my  keepers,  who  had  already  recovered 
their  feet  and  were  bellowing  like  bullocks  for  assis- 
lance— had  it  not  been  a  very  dark  night,  Tmust  cer* 
tainly  have  been  discovered  and  re-taken  by  them  ;— 
fortunately  before  they  had  succeeded  in  rallying  the 
family,  in  groping  about  I  met  with  a  fruit  tr«e  sit- 
untc-.d  within  ten  or  twelve  feet  of  the  wall,  which  I 
ascended  as  expeditiously  as  possible,  and  by  an  ex- 
traordinary leap  from  the  branches  reached  the  top 
of  the  wall>  and  was  in  an  instant  on  the  opposit  side. 


26  LIFB  AN»  ADVENTURES 

The  coast  being  now  clear,  I  ran  to  the  distance  of 
two  or  three  miles,  with  as  much  speed  as  my  situa- 
tion would  admit  of  ;•— my  next  object  now  was  to  rid 
myself  of  my  handcuffs,  which  fortunately  proving 
none  of  the  stoutest,  1  succeeded  in  doing  after  much 
painful  labour. 

It  was  npw  as  I  judged  about  13  o'clock*  and  1  had 
succeeded  in  reaching  a  considerable  distance  from 
the  Inn  from  which  1  had  made  my  escape,  without 
hearing  or  seeing  any  thing  of  my  keepers,  whom  I 
had  left  staggering  about  in  the  garden  in  search  of 
their  "  Yankee  captive  !" — it  was  indeed  to  their  in- 
toxicated state,  and  the  extreme  darkness  of  the  -night! 
that  I  imputed  my  success  in  evading  their  pursuit. 
—  I  saw  no  one  until  about  the  break  of  day,  when  I 
met  an  old  man,  tottering  beneath  the  weight  of  his 
pick-ax,  hoe  and  shovel,  clad  in  tattered  garments) 
and  otherwise  the  picture  of  poverty  and  distress  ;  he 
had  just  left  his  humble  dwelling,  and  was  proceed- 
ing thus  early  to  his  daily  labour  j— and  as  1  was  now 
satisfied  that  it  would  be  very  difficult  for  me  to 
travel  in  the  day  time  garbed  as  1  was,  in  a  sailor's 
habit,  without  txciting  the  suspicions  of  his  Royal 
Majesty's  pimps,  who  (1  had  been  iiiformed)  were 
constantly  on  the  look-out  for  deserters,  I  applyed  to 
the  old  man,  miserable  as  he  appeared,  for-a  change 
ofcloathing,  offering  those  which  I  then  wore  for  a 
suit  of  inferior  quality  and  less  value — this  I  was  in- 
duced to  do  at  that  moment,  as  1  thought  that  the 
proposal  could  be  made  with  per  feet  safety,  for  what- 


07   ISRAEL  R,   POTTER.  2/ 

over  might  hare  been  his  suspicions  as  to  my  mo- 
tives in  wishing  to  exchange  my  dress»  I  doubted  not, 
that  with  an  object  of  so  much  apparent  distress,  self* 
interest  would  prevent  hit  communicating  them.— 
The  old  man  however  appeared  a  little  surprised  at 
my  offer,  and  after  a  short  examination  of  my  pea- 
jacket)  trowsers,  &c«  expressed  a  doubt  whether  i 
would  be  willing  to  exchange  them  for  his  "  Church 
suit,"  which  he  represented  as  something  worse  for 
wear,  and  not  worth  half  so  much  as  those  I  then, 
were— taking  courage  however  from  my  assurances 
that  a  change  of  dresi  was  my  only  object,  he  depot 
sited  his  tools  by  the  side  of  a  hedge,  and  inviteu* 
me  to  accompany  him  to  his  house,  which  we  soon 
reached  and  entered,  when  a  scene  of  poverty  and 
wretchedness  presented,  which  exceeded  every  thing 
»f  the  kind  that  1  had  ever  before  witnessed— the 
internal  appearance  of  the  miserable  hovel,  I  am 
confident  would  suffer  in  a  comparison  with  any  of 
the  meanest  stableg  of  our  American  farmers— there 
•was  but  one  room*  in  one  corner  of  which  was  a  bed 
of  straw  covered  with  a  coarse  sheet,  and  on  which 
reposed  his  wife  and  five  small  children.  I  had 
heard  much  of  the  impoverished  and  distressed  sit» 
uatien  of  the  poor  in  England,  but  the  present  pre- 
sented an  instance  of  which  1  had  formed  no  concep- 
tion— liule  indeed  did  I  then  think  that  it  would  be 
my  lot,  before  I  should  meet  with  an  opportunity  to 
return  to  my  native  country,  to  be  placed  in  an  infi- 
nitely worse  situation  !  but,  alas,  such  was  my  bar! 
fortune  t 


28  LIFE   AN»    ADVENTURES 

The  first  garment  presented  by  the  poor  old  man, 
of  his  best,  or  "  church  suit,"  as  he  termed  it,  was  a 
coat  of  very  coarse  cloth,  and  cootaining  a  number  of 
patches  of  almost  every  colour  but  that  of  the  cloth 
«f  which  it  wa«  originally  made— the  next  was  a 
waistcoat  and  a  pair  of  small  cloathes,  which  appear- 
ed each  to  have  received  a  bountiful  supply  of  patch- 
es to  correspond  with  the  coat — the  coat  1  put  on 
•without  much  difficulty,  but  the  two  other  garments 
proved  much  too  small  for  me,  and  when  I  had  suc- 
ceeded with  considerable  difficulty  in  putting  them 
on,  they  set  so  taught  as  to  cause  me  some  apprehen- 
sion that  they  might  even  stop  the  circulation  of 
blood  I— my  next  exchange  was  my  buff-cap  for  an 
old  rusty  large  brimmed  hat. 

The  old  man  appeared  very  much  pleased  with 
his  bargain,  and  represented  to  his  wife  that  he  could 
now  accomp&erp  her  to  chutch  nuch  more  decently 
clad— he  immediately  tried  on  the  pea-jacket  and 
trowsers,  and  seemed  to  give  himself  very  little  con- 
cern about  their  size,  although  1  am  confident  that 
one  leg  of  the  trowsers  was  sufficiently  large  to  admit 
his  whole  body — but,  however  ludicrous  his  appear- 
ance, in  his  new  suit,  I  am  confident  that  it  could  not 
have  been  more  so  than  mine,  garbed  as  I  was,  like 
an  oilman  of  seventy  1 — From  my  old  friend  I  learn- 
ed the  course  that  I  must  steer  to  reach  London,  the 
towns  and  villages  that  I  should  have  to  pass  through, 
and  the  distance  thereto,  which  was  between  70  and 
80  miles,  He  likewise  repiesemed  to  me  that  the 


03T- ISRAEL  Fw  POTTER i  $- 

country  was  filled  with  soldiers,  who  were,  on  the 
constant  look-out  for  deserters  from  the  navy  and  ar- 
ray, for  the  apprehension  of  which  they  received  a 
stipulated  reward. 

After  enjoining  it  on  the  old  man  not  to  give  any* 
information  of  me,  should  he  meet  on  the  road  an-y 
one  who  should  enquire  for  such  a  person,  I  took  -my 
leave  of  him,  and  again  set  out  with  a  determination 
lo  reach  London,  thus  disguised,  if  possible  ;  — I  tra- 
velled about  30  miles  that  day,  and  -at  night  enVeretb 
a  barn  in  hopes  to  find  some  straw  or  hay  on  which 
to  repose  for  the  night,  for  I  had  not  money  sufficient 
to  pay  for  a  night's  lodging  ai  a  public  house,  hscl  f 
thought  it  prudent  to  app.ty  for  one  —in  nvy  expecta- 
tion to  find  either  hay  or  straw  in  the  barn  I-was  sad- 
ly disappointed,  for  I  soon  found  that  it  contained  not 
a  lock  of  either,  and  sfier  groping  about  in  the  dark 
in  search  of  something  ihat  might  serve  fop  a  s-ubsti.- 
tute,  I  .found  nothing  better  than  an  undressed  sheep. 
skin— wi'.h  no  other  bed  on  which  to  repose-my  woa» 
ried  limbs  !  spent  a  sleepless  night;  cold,  hungry  and- 
weary,  and  impatient  for  Use  arrival  of  the  mortiing'a- 
dawn,  that  1  might  be  enabled  to  pursue  mv  journey* 

By  break  of  day  I  -again  set  out  and  soon  found  my- 
self within  the  suburbs  of  a  considerable  village,  in 
passing  which  I  was  fearful  there  would  be  some  risk 
of  detection,  but  to  guard  myself  as  much  as  possible 
against  suspicion,  I  furnished  myself  with  a  crutch, 
and  feigning  myself  a  cupple,  hobled  through  the- 
town  without  meeting  with  any  interruption  In  two 


3,9  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

hours  after,  I  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  another  still 
more  considerable  village,  but  fortunately  for  me,  at 
the  moment*  I  was  overtaken  by  an  empty  baggage 
waggon,  bound  to  London — again  feigning  myself 
very  lame,  1  begged  of  the  driver  to  grant  a  poor 
•ripple  the  indulgence  to  ride  a  few  miles,  to  which 
he  assenting,  I  concealed  myself  by  lying  prostrate  on 
the  bottom  of  the  waggon,  until  we  had  passed  quite 
through  the  village  ;  when,  finding  the  waggoner  dis- 
posed to  drive  much  slower  than  what  I  wished  to 
travel,  after  thanking  him  for  the  kind  disposition 
which  he  had  manifested  to  oblige  me,  I  quite  the 
waggon,  threw  away  my  crutch  and  travelled  with  a 
speed,  calculated  to  surprise  the  driver  with  so  sud- 
den a  recovery  of  the  use  of  my  legs — the  reader  will 
perceive  that  I  had  now  become  almost  an  adept  at 
deception,  which  I  would  not  however  have  so  fre- 
quently practiced,  had  not  self  preservation  demand- 
ed it. 

As  I  thought  there  would  be  in  my  journey  to 
London,  infinitely  more  danger  of  detection  in  pas- 
sing through  large  towns  or  villages,  than  in  con- 
fining myself  to  the  country,  I  avoided  them  as 
much  as  possible  ;  and  as  I  found  myself  once  more 
on  the  borders  of  one,  apparently  of  much  larger 
size  than  any  that  I  had  yet  passed,  I  thought  it 
most  expedient  to  take  a  circuitous  route  to  avoid 
it;  in  attempting  which,  I  met  with  an  almost  in- 
surmountable obstacle,  that  I  little  dreamed  of— 
when  nearly  abreast  of  the  iown;  1  found  my  route 


OF   ISRAEL  R.  POTTER.  31 

obstructed  by  a  ditch,  of  upwards  of  I*  feet  in 
breadth,  and  of  what  depth  I  could  not  determine^ 
as  there  was  now  no  other  alternative  left  me,  but 
to  leap  this  ditch,  or  to  retrace  my  steps  and  pass 
through  the  town,  after  a  moment's  reflection  I  de- 
termined to  attempt  the  former,  although  it  would 
be  attempting  a  fete  of  activity,  that  I  supposed  my- 
self incapable  of  performing  ;  yet,  however  incred- 
ible it  may  appear,  I  assure  my  readers  that  I  did 
effect  it,  and  reached  the  opposite  side  with  dry 
feet! 

1  had  now  arrived  within  about  16  miles  of  Lon- 
don, when  night  approaching,  I  again  sought  lodg- 
ings in  a  barn  ;  which  containing  a  small  quantity 
of  hay,  I  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  tolerable  com* 
fortable  night's  rest.  By  the  dawn  of  day  I  arose 
somewhat  refreshed,  and  reasumed  my  journey 
with  the  pleasing  prospect  of  reaching  London  be- 
fore night— but,  while  encouraged  and  cheered  by 
these  pleasing  anticipations,  an  unexpected  occur- 
rence blasted  my  fair  prospects— I  had  succeeded 
in  reaching  in  safety  a  distance  so  great  from  the 
place  where  I  had  been  last  held  a  prisoner,  and 
within  so  short  a  distance  of  London,  the  place  of 
my  destination,  that  J  began  to  think  myself  so  far 
out  of  danger,  as  to  cause  me  to  relax  in  a  meas- 
ure, in  the  precautionary  means  which  I  had  made 
use  of  to  avoid  detection  ; — as  I  was  passing  through 
the  town  ot  Staincs,  (within  a  few  miles  of  London) 
about  1 1  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  I  was  met  by 


$£'  5LIF2    AND   ADVENTURES 

three  or  four  British  soHic  rs,  whose  notice  I  at- 
tracted, and  who  unfortunately  for  me,  discovered 
by  the  collar  (which  i  had  not  taken  the  precaution 
to  conceal)  that  I  wore  a  shirt  which  exactly  cor- 
responded with  those  uniformly  worn  by  his  Majes- 
ty's seamen— not  being  able  to  give  a  satisfactory 
account  of  myself,  I  was  made  a  prisoner  of,  on 
suspicion  of  being  a  deserter  from  hi*  Majesty's 
service,  and  was  immediately  committed  to  the 
the  Round  House ;  a  prison  so  called,  appropriated 
to  the  confinement  of  runaways,  and  those  convic- 
ted of  small  offences — 1  was  committed  in  the  even- 
ing: and  to  secure  me  the  more  effectually,  I  was 
handcuffed,  and  left  supperless  by  my  unfeeling  jail- 
or, to  pass  the  night  in  wretchedness. 

I  had    now   been   three  days   without  food  (with 
the  exception  of  a   single  two- penny  loaf)  and  felt 
myself  unable  much   longer  to  resist  the   cravings 
of  nature— my  spirits,  which  until  now  had  armed . 
me  with   fortitude    began  to  forsake  me—indeed  I. 
was  at  this  moment  on    the  eve   of  despair  !  when, 
easing  to  mind    that    gri  f  would    only  aggravate 
my  calamity,  1  endeavoured  to   arm  my   soul  with 
patience  ;  and  habiiuate  myself  as  well  as  I   could, 
to  woe.— -Accordingly  1  roused  my  spirits  ;  and  ban- 
isimi^  for   a   few   moments,  these   gloomy   ideas,  I 
began  to  reflect  semusiy.  on  the  methods    how   to.- 
extricat*  mys;  ;f  irom  this  labyrinth  of  horror* 

My  first  object    was  to   rid  myseif  of  my   hand- 
Guffs,  whicn  ^succeeded  in  doing  after  two  hours 


OF    ISRAEL    R.    POTTER.  33 

Hard  labour,  by  sawing  them  across  the  grating  of 
the  window ;  having  my  hands  now  at  liberty)  tho 
next  thing  to  be  do^e  was  to  force  the  door  of  my 
apartment,  which  was  secured  on  the  outside  by  a 
hasp  and  padlock  ;  1  devised  many  schemes  but  for 
the  want  of  tools  to  work  with,  was  unable  to  carry 
them  into  execution---!  however  at  length  succeed* 
cd,  with  the  assistance  of  no  other  instrument  than 
the  bolt  of  my  handcuffs  ;  with  which,  thirsting  my 
arm  through  a  small  window  or  aperture  in  the 
door,  I  forced  the  padlock*  and  as  there  was  novr 
no  other  barrier  to  preveot  my  escape,  after  an 
imprisonment  of  about  five  hours,  I  was  once  more 
at  large. 

It  was  now  as  I  judged  about  midnight,  and  al- 
though enfeebled  and  tormented  with  excessive 
hunger  and  fatigue,  I  set  out  with  the  determina* 
tion  of  reaching  London  if  possible,  early  the  en- 
suing morning.  By  break  of  day  I  reached  and  pas- 
sed through  Brintford,  a  town  of  considerable  note 
and  within  six  miles  of  the  Capital  —but  so  great 
was  my  hunger  at  this  moment,  that  I  was  under 
serious  apprehension  of  falling  a  victim  to  absolute 
starvation,  if  not  so  fortunate  soon  to  obtain  some- 
thing  to  appease  it.  I  recollected  of  haying  read  in 
my  youth,  accounts  of  the  dreadful  effects  of  hung* 
er  which  had  led  men  to  the  commission  of  the 
•most  horrible  excesses,  but  did  not  then  think  that 
fate  would  ever  thereafter  doom  me  to  an  almost 
similar  situation. 


34  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

When  I  made  my  escape  from  the  Prison  ship  six 
English  penny s  was  all  the  money  that  I  possessed  — 
with  two  I  had  purchased  a  two  penny  loaf  the  day  af. 
ter  I  had  escaped  from  my  keepers  at  the  inn,  and  the 
other  four  still  remained  in  my  possession,  not  having 
Diet  with  a  favourable  opportunity  since  the  purchase 
of  the  first  loaf  to  purchase  food  of  any  kind.  When 
1  had  arrived  at  the  distance  of  one  and  an  half  miles 
from  Biiniford,  I  met  with  a  labourer  employed  in 
building  H  pale  fence,  to  whom  my  deplorable  situa- 
tion induced  me  to  rpply  for  work  ;  01  for  i^f->t  n»a- 
tion  of  any  one  in  th&  neighborhood,  that  might  be  in 
want  of  a  band  to  work  av  farming  or  gardening.  He 
informed  me  that  he  did  not  v/kh  himself  to  hire,  but 
that  Sir  John  Millet,  whose  seat  he  represented  but 
a  short  distant?,  was  in  the  habit  of  employing  many 
hand*,  at  thai  season  of  the  year  (which  was  in  the 
spring  of  1776)  and  he  doubled  not  but  lhal  I  might 
there  meet  with  employment. 

With  my  spiruf  a  iulle  revived.,  at  even  a  distant 
pjrospect  of  obtaining  something  to  alleviate  my  suf- 
ferings, I  started-  in  quest  or  the  seat  of  Su  John,  &• 
greeable  to  the  directions  which  1  had  received;  in 
attempting  to.  reach  which,  I. mistook  my  way,  and 
proceeded  up  a  gia.vellcd  and  beautifully  omumemed 
walk,  which  unconsciously  led  me  dheciiy  to  the 
garden  of  the  Brincess  Amelia — I*  had  approached 
within  view  of  the  Royal  Mansion  when  a  glimse  of  ft 
number  of  "red  coats"  who  thronged  t  ho  yard,  sat. 
me  of  my  mistake,  and  caused  me  to  make  aa-, 


«V   ISRAEL  H.     POTTER,  tj 

instantaneous  and  precipitate  retreat,  being  determin- 
ed,  not  to  afford  any  more  of  their  mess  an  opportu- 
nity of  boasting  of  the  capture  of  a  '*  Yankee  Rebel," 
—  indeed,  a  wolf  or  »  bear,  of  the  American  wilder- 
ness, could  not  be  more  terrified  or  panic-struck  at 
the  sight  of  a  firebrand,  than  I  then  was  at  that  of  a 
British  red  coat  I 

Having  succeeded  in  making  good  my  retreat 
from  the  garden  of  her  highness,  without  being  dis» 
covered  I  took  another  path  which  led  me  to  where 
a  number  of  labourers  were  employed  in  shovelling 
gravel,  and  to  whom  I  repeated  my  enquiry  if  they 
could  inform  me  of  any  in  want  of  help,  &c— *•  why 
in  troth  friend  (answered  one  in  a  dialect  peculiar  tc 
the  labouring  class  of  people  of  that  part  of  the 
coumiy)  me  master,  Sir  John,  hires  a  goodly  many, 
and  as  we've  a  deal  of  work  n,p*y,  may-be  he'll  hire 
you;  'spose  he  btop  a  little  with  us  'until  work  is 
done,  he  may  then  gaqg  along,  and  we'll  question 
Sir  John,  whither  him  be  wanting  another  like  us  or 
noi" 

Although  I  was  sensible  that  an  application  of  this 
kind,  might  lead  to  a  discovery  of  my  situation, 
whereby  1  might  be  again  deprived  or  my  liberty, 
and  immured  in  a  loathsome  prison  ;  yet,  as  there 
was  now  no  other  alternative  left  me  but  to  se^k  in 
this  way,  something  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  hung- 
er, or  to  yield  a  victim  to  starvation,  with  all  Us 
attending  horrors:  of  the  the  two  evils  1  preferred 
the  least,  and  concluded  as  the  honest  labourer  had 


36  LIFE    AVD    ADVENTURES 

proposed,  to  await  until  they  hnd  completed  their 
work,  and  then  to  accompany  them  home  to  ascer- 
tain the  will  of  Sir  John. 

As  I  had  heaid  much  of  the  tyrannical  and  domi- 
neering disposition  of  the  rich  and  purse-proud  of 
England,  and  who  were  generally  the  loids  of  the 
manor,  and  the  paiticular  favourites*  of  the  crown  ; 
it  was  not  without  feeling  a  very  considerable  de- 
gree of  diffidence,  that  1  introduced  my  sell  into  the 
presence  of  one  whom  1  strongly  suspected  to  he 
of  thai  class — but,  what  was  peculiarly  fortunate 
for  me,  a  shoit  acquaintance  was  sufficient  to  satis* 
fy  me  that  as  regarded  this  gentleman,  my  appre- 
hensions were  without  cause.  1  found  him  walking 
in  his  front  yard  in  company  with  several  gentleman,  . 
and  en  being  made  acquainted  with  my  business,  his 
first  enquiry  was  whether  I  had  a  hoe,  or  money 
to  purchace  onet  and  on  being  answered  in  the 
negative,  he  requested  me  to  call  early  the  ensu- 
ing morning}  and  he  would  endeavour  to  furnish 
me  with  one. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  express  the  satisfaction 
that  I  felt  at  this  prospect  of  a  deliverance  from 
my  wretched  situation.  1  was  now  by  so  long  fast- 
ing reduced  to  such  a  state  of  weakness,  that  my 
legs  were  hardly  able  to  support  me,  and  it  was 
with  extreme  difficulty  that  I  succeeded  in  reach- 
ing a  baker's  shop  in  the  neighborhood,  where  with 
my  four  remaining  pennys,  which  I  had  reserved 
for  a  last  resource>  1  purchased  two  two-penny 
leaves. 


Of   ISRAEL   R.   POTTER*  3f 

After  four  days  of  intolerable  hunger,  the  reader 
may  judge  how  great  must  have  been  my  joy,  to 
find  myself  in  possession  of  even  a  morsel  to  ap- 
pease it — well  might  I  have  exclaimed  at  this  mo. 
ment  with  the  unfortunate  Trenck — "  O  nature  I 
what  delight  hast  thou  combined  with  the  gratifica^ 
tion  of  thy  wants  !  remember  this  ye  who  rack  in. 
vention  to  excite  appetite,  and  which  yet  you  can- 
not procure  ;  remember  how  simple  are  the  means 
that  will  give  a  crust  of  mouldy  bread  a  flavour  more 
exquisite  than  ail  the  spiees  :of  the  east,  or  all  the 
profusion  of  land  or  sea ;  remember  this,  grow 
hungry,  and  indulge  your  sensuality." 

Although  five  times  the  quantity  of  the  '"  staff  of 
life"  would  have  been  insufficient  to  have  satisfied 
my  appetite,  yet,  as  I  thought  it  improbable  that  I 
should  be  indulged  \vith  a  mouthful  of  any  thing  to 
eat  in  the  morning,  I  concluded  to  eat  then  but  one 
loaf,  and  10  reserve  the  other  for  another  meal ; 
but  having  eaten  one,  so  far  from  satisfying, it  seem* 
cd  rather  to  increase  my  appetite  for  the  other— the 
temptation  was  irresistabie — the  cravings  of  hunger 
predominated,  and  would  not  be  satisfied  until  I  had 
devoured  the  remaining  one. 

The  day  was  now  far  spent  and  I  was  compelled 
to  resort  wiih  reluctance  to  a  carriage  house,  to 
•spend  another  night  in  misery  j  1  found  nothing 
therein  on  which  to  repose  my  wearied  limbs  but 
U,e  bare  floor,  which  was  sufficient  to  deprive  me 
of  sleep,  however  much  exhausted  nature  required 

4 


38  LIFE   AND    AB VENTURES 

it ;  my  spirits  were  however  buoyed  up  by  the  pleas- 
ing consolation  that  the  succeeding  day  would  bring 
relief ;— as  soon  as  day  light  appeared.  I  hastened 
to  await  the  commands  of  one,  whom,  since  my  first 
introduction!  I  could  not  but  flatter  myself  would 
prove  my  benefactor,  and  afford  me  that  relief  which 
iny  pitiful  situation  so  much  required— it  was  an 
Jiour  much  earlier  than  that  at  which  even  the  domes- 
tics were  in  the  habit  of  arising,  and  I  had  been  a 
considerable  time  walking  back  and  fourth  in  the 
barn  yard,  before  any  made  their  appearance.  It 
was  now  about  4  o'clock,  and  by  the  person  of  whom 
I  made  the  enquiry,  I  was  informed  that  8  o'clock 
was  the  usual  hour  \n  which  the  labourers  commen- 
ced their  day's  work — permission  was  granted  me 
by  this  perso»  (who  had  the  care  of  the  stable)  to 
repose  myself  on  some  straw  beneath  the  manger, 
until  they  should  be  in  readiness  to  depart  to  com- 
mence their  day's  work — in  the  four  hours  I  had  a 
more  comfortable  nap  than  any  that  I  had  enjoyed 
the  four  preceding  nights.  At  8  o'clock  precisely 
all  hands  were  called,  and  preparations  made  for  a 
commencement  of  the  labours  of  the  day— I  was 
furnished  with  a  large  iron  fork  and  a  hoe,  and  or* 
dered  by  my  employer  to  accompany  them,  and  al- 
though my  strength  at  this  moment  was  hardly  suf- 
ficient to  enable  me  to  bear  even  so  light  a  bur- 
then, yet  was  unwilling  to  expose  my  weakness,  so 
long  as  it  could  be  avoided—but,  the  time  had  now 
arrived  in  which  it  was  impossible  for  me  any  long* 


OF  ISRAEL  R»  POTTER.  $>' 

«r  to  conceal  it,  and  had  to  confess  the  cause  to  my 
fellow. labourers,  so  far  as  to  declare  to  them,  that 
such  had  been  my  state  of  poverty,  that  (with  tha 
exception  of  the  four  small  loaves  of  bread)  I  had 
not  tasted  food  for  four  days  !  I  was  not  I  must 
confess  displeased  nor  a  little  disappointed  to  witness 
the  evident  emotions  of  pity  and  commiseration, 
which  this  woeful  declaration  appeared  to  excite  in 
their  minds :  as  I  had  supposed  them  too  much  ac- 
customed to  witness  scenes  of  misery  and  distress, 
to  have  their  feelings  much  effected  by  a  brief  reci- 
tal of  my  suffering§  and  deprivations — but  in  justice 
to  them  I  must  aay,  that  although  a  very  illiterate, 
1  found  them  (with  a  few  exceptions)  a  human* 
and  benevolent  people. 

About  11  o'clock  we  were  visited  by  our  employ* 
er,  Sir  John  :  who,  noticing  me  particularly,  and 
perceiving  the  little  progress  I  made  in  my  labour, 
observed,  that  although  1  had  the  appearance  of  be- 
ing a  stout  hearty  man;  yet  1  either  feigned  myself 
or  really  was  a  very  weak  one  !  on  which  it  was 
immediately  observed  by  one  of  my  friendly  fellow 
labourers,  that  it  was  not  surprising  that  I  lacked 
strength,  as  I  had  eaten  nothing  of  consequence  for 
four  days  J  Mr.  Millet,  who  appeared  at  first  lit- 
tle disposed  to  credit  the  fact,  on  being  assured 
by  me  that  it  was  really  so,  put  a  shilling  into  my 
hand,  and  bid  me  go  immediately  and  purchase  to 
that  amount  in  bread  and  meat— a  request  which 
the  reader  may  suppose  1  did  not  hesitate  to  comply 
with. 


4§  LI?E   AND   ADV3NTUBES 

Having  made  a  tolerable  meal,  and  feeling  some- 
what  refreshed  thereby,  I  was  on  my  return  when  I 
was  met  by  my  fellow  labourers  on  their  return  home » 
four  o'clock  being  the  hour  in  which  they  usually 
quit  work.  As  soon  as  we  arrived,  some  victuals 
was  ordered  for  me  by  Sir  John,  when  the  maid  pre- 
senting a  much  smaller  quantity,  than  what  her  be- 
nevolent master  supposed  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  ap- 
petite of  one  who  had  been  four  days  fasting,  she  was 
ordered  to  return  and  bring  out  the  platter  and  the 
•whole  of  its  contents»  and  of  which  I  was  requested 
to  eat  my  fill,  but  of  which  T  eat  sparingly  to  prevent 
the  dangerous  consequences  which  might  have  re- 
sulted from  my  voracity  in  the  debilitated  state  to 
Which  my  stomach  was  reduced. 

My  light  repast  being  over,  one  of  the  men  were 
ordered  by  my  hospitable  friend  to  provide  for  me  a 
tfomfortabie  bed  in  the  barn,  where  1  spent  the  night 
on  a  couch  of  clean  straw,  more  sweetly  than  ever  I 
had  done  in  the  days  of  my  better  fortune.  1  arose 
early  much  refreshed,  and  was  preparing  after  break- 
fast to  accompany  the  labourers  to  their  work,  which 
was  no  sooner  discovered  by  Sir  John,  than  smiling, 
he  bid  me  return  to  my  couch  and  there  remain  un- 
til 1  was  in  a  better  state  to  resume  my  labours  ;  in-  ; 
deed  the  generous  compassion  and  benevolence  of 
this  gentleman  was  unbounded*  After  having  on 
that  day  partook  of  an  excellent  dinner,  which  had 
been  provided  expressly  for  me,  and  the  domestics 
having  been  ordered  to  retire,  1  was  not  a  little  sur- 


OF   ISRAEL    R.    POTTEft.  41 

prised  to  hear  myself  thus  addressed  by  him—"  my 
honest  friend,  1  perceive  that  you  are  a  sea-faring 
man,  and  your  history  probably  is  a  secret  which  you 
may  not  wish  to  divulge;  but,  whatever  circumstan- 
ces may  have  attended  you,  you  may  make  them- 
known  to  me  with  the  greatest  safety,  for  I  pledge 
my  honour  I  will  never  betray  you," 

Having  experienced  so  many  proofs  of  the  friend- 
ly disposition  of  Mr  Millet,  I  could  not  hesitate  a 
moment  to  comply  witb  his  request,  and  without  at- 
tempting to  conceal  a  single  fact»  made  him  acquain- 
ted with  every  circumstance  that  had  attended  me 
since  my  first  enlistment  as  a  soldier— after  expres- 
sing his  regret  that  there  should  be  any  of  his  coun- 
trymen found  so  void  of  the  principles  of  humanity, 
as  to  treat  thus  an  unfortunate  prisoner  of  war,  he  as- 
sured me  that  so  long  as  I  remained  in  his  employ 
he  would  guarantee  my  safety— adding,  that  notwith- 
standing (in  consequence  ot  the  unhappy  differences 
which  then  prevailed  between  Great  Britain  and  her 
American  colonies)  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter  were 
denominated  Rebels,  yet  they  were  not  without  their 
friends  in  England,  who  wished  well  to  their  cause, 
and  would  cheerfully  aid  them  whenever  an  oppor- 
tunity should  present— he  represented  the  soldiers 
(whom  it  had  been  reported  to  me,  were  constantly 
on  the  look  out  for  deserters)  as  a  set  of  mean  and 
contemptible  wretches,  little  better  than  a  lawless 
banditti,  who,  to  obtain  the  fee  awarded  by  govern- 
ment, for  the  apprehension  of  a  deserter,  would  be- 
u*  their  best  friends, 


42  tlFE    ANB    ADVENTURES 

Having  been  generously  supplyed  with  a  new  suit 
ofcloathes  and  other  necessaries  by  Mr.  M.  I  con- 
tracted with  him  for  six  months,  to  superintend  his 
strawbury  garden,  in  the  course  of  which  so  far  from 
being  molested,  1  was  not  suspected  by  even  his  own 
domestics  of  being  an  American— at  the  expiration 
of  the  six  months,  by  the  recommendation  of  my  hos- 
pitable friend,  I  got  a  birth  in  the  garden  of  the  Prin- 
ces, Amelia,  where  although  among  my  fellow  la- 
bourers the  American  Rebellion  was  not  unfrequent- 
Jy  the  topic  of  their  conversation,  and  the  "  d— d 
Yankee  Rebels"  (as  they  termed  them)  frequently 
the  subjects  of  their  vilest  abuse,  1  was  little  suspec- 
ted of  being  one  of  that  class  whom  they  were  pleas- 
ed thus  to  denominate— -1  must  confess  that  it  was 
not  without  some  difficulty;  that  I  was  enabled  to  sur« 
press  the  indignant  feelings  occasioned  by  hearing 
my  countrymen  spoken  so  disrespectfully  of,  but  as 
a  single  word  in  their  favour  might  have  betrayed  me, 
1  could  obtain  no  other  satisfaction  than  by  secretly 
indulging  the  hope  that  I  might  before  the  conclusion 
of  the  war,  have  an  opportunity  to  repay  them,  in 
their  own  coin>  with  interest. 

1  remained  in  the  employ  of  the  Princess  shout 
three  months,  and  then  in  consequence  of  a  misun- 
derstanding with  the  overseer,  I  hired  my  self  to  a  far- 
mer in  a  small  village  adjoining  Brintford,  where  I 
had  not  been  three  weeks  employed  before  rumour 
•was  afloat  that  I  was  a  Yankee  Prisoner  of  war !  trom 
whence  the  report  arose,  or  by  what  occcasioned>  i 


OF  ISRAEL  R.  POTTER.  4 

never  could  learn— it  no  sooner  reached  the  ears  of 
the  soldiers,  than  ihey  were  on  the  alert,  seeking  an 
opportunity  to  seize  my  person —fortunately  I  was 
apprised  of  their  intentions  before  they  had  time  to 
carry  them  into  effect;  I  was  however  hard  pushed) 
and  sought  for  by  them  with  that  diligence  and  per- 
severance that  certainly  deserved  a  better  cause — I 
had  many  hair  breadth  escapes,  and  most  assuredly 
should  have  been  taken,  had  it  not  been  for  the  friend- 
ship  of  those  whom  I  suspect  felf  not  less  friendly  to 
the  cause  of  my  country,  but  dare  not  publicly  avow 
it— I  was  at  one  time  traced  by  the  soldiers  in  pursuit 
of  me  to  the  house  of  one  of  this  description,  in  whose 
garret  I  was  concealed,  and  was  at  that  moment  in 
bed ;  they  entered  and  enquired  for  me,  and  on  be- 
ing told  that  1  was  not  in  the  house,  they  insisted  on 
searching,  and  were  in  the  act  of  ascending  the  cham- 
ber stairs  for  that  purpose,  when  seizing  ray  cloathes, 
1  passed  up  through  the  scuttle,  and  reached  the  root' 
of  the  house,  and  from  thence  half  naked  passed  to 
those  of  the  adjoining  ones  to  the  number  of  ten  or 
twelve,  and  succeeded  in  making  my  escape  without 
being  discovered. 

Being  continually  harrassed  by  night  and  day  by 
the  soldiers,  and  driven  1'rona  place  to  place,  without 
an  opportunity  to  pertorm  a  day's  work,  I  was  ad- 
vised by  one  whose  sincjrfty  1  could  not  doubt,  to 
apply  for  a  birth  as  a  wbourer  in  a  garden  of  his 
Royal  Majesty,  situated  in  the  village  o'  Quew,  a 
few  miles  from  -filiation)  j  where,  under  the  pro* 


44  LIFE    AND    AIM'ENTURSS 

tection  of  his  Majesty,  it  was  represented  to  me 
that  I  should  be  perfectly  safe,  as  the  soldiers  dare 
not  approach  the  royal  premises,  to  molest  any  one. 
therein  employed—he  was  indeed  so  friendly  as  to 
introduce  me  personally  to  the  overseerv  as  an  ac- 
quaintance who  possessed  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
gardening,  but  from  whom  he  carefully  concealed 
the  fact  of  my  being  an  American  born,  and  of  the 
suspicion  entertained  by  some  of  my  being  a  pris- 
oner of  war,  who  had  escaped  the  vigilance  of  ray- 
keepers. 

The  overseer  concluded  to  receive  me  on  trial ; 
—it  was  here  that  I  had  not  only  frequent  oppor- 
tunities to  see  his  Royal  Majesty  in  person,  in  his 
frequent  resorts  to  this,  one  of  his  country  retreats, 
but  once  had  the  honour  of  being  addressed  by  him. 
The  fact  was,  that  I  hud  not  been  one  week  em* 
ployed  in  the  garden,  before  the  suspicion  of  my, 
being  either  a  prisoner  of  war,  or  a  Spy,  in  the 
employ  of  the  American  Rebels,  was  communica- 
ted, not  only  to  the  overseer  and  other  persons  em- 
ployed in  the  garden,  but  even  to  the  King  him- 
self !  As  I  was  one  day  busily  engaged  with  three 
ethers  in  gravelling  a  walk,  I  was  unexpectedly  ac. 
costed  by  his  Majesty  :  who,  with  much  apparent 
good  nature,  enquired  of  me  of  what  country  I 
was— '*  an  American  born,  may  it  please  your  ma- 
jesty/' was  my  reply  (taking  off  my  hat,  which  he 
requested  me  instantly  to  replace  on  my  head,)-— 
'(  ah  1  (continued  he  with  a  smile)  an  American,  a- 


OF   ISRAEL   R,    FOTTSR.  45 

stubborn,  a  very  stubborn  people  indeed  i — and  what 
brought  you  to  tbis  country,  and  how  long  have  you 
been  here?"  M  the  fate  of  war,  your  Majesty-— I 
was  brought  to  this  country  a  prisoner  about  eleven 
months  since,"— and  thinking  this  a  favourable  op* 
portunity  to  acquaint  him  with  a  few  of  my  griev- 
ances, I  briefly  Mated  to  him  how  much  I  had  been 
harassed  by  the  soldiers — "  while  here  employed 
they  will  not  trouble  you,"  was  the  only  reply  he 
made,  and  passed  on.  The  familiar  manner  in 
which  I  had  been  interrogated  by  his  majesty,  had 
I  must  confess  a  tendency  in  some  degree  to  pre- 
possess me  in  his  favour —I  at  least  suspected 
iiim  to  possess  a  disposition  less  tyrannical,  and  ca- 
pable of  better  views  than  what  had  been  imputed 
to  him  ;  and  as  I  had  frequently  heard  it  repre- 
sented in  America,  that  uninfluenced  by  such  of  his 
ministers,  as  unwisely  disregarded  the  reiterated 
complaints  of  the  American  people,  he  would  have 
been  foremost  to  have  redressed  their  grievance^ 
of  which  they  so  justly  complained. 

I  continued  in  the  service  of  his  Majesty's  gardner 
at  Qeuw,  about.four  months,  when  ihe'season  having 
Thrived  in  which  the  work  of  tne  garden  required  less 
labourers  I  with  three  others  was  discharged ;  and 
the  day  after  engaged  myself  for  a  few  months,  to  a 
farmer  in  the  town  and  neighborhood  where  1  had 
been  last  employed— but,  not  one  week  had  expired 
before  the  old  story  of  my  being  an  American  priso- 
ner of  war  &c,  was  revived  and  industriously  circle 


46  LIFE    AMD    ADVENTUR2* 

Jated,  and  the  soldiers  (eager  to  obtain  the  proffered 
bounty)  like  a  pack  of  blood-hounds  were  again  on 
the  track  seeking  an  opportunity  to  surprise  me— 
the  house  wherein  I  had  taken  up  my  abode,  was  se- 
veral times  thoroughly  searched  by  them,  but  1  was 
always  so  fortunate  as  to  discover  their  approach  in 
season  to  make  good  my  escape  by  the  assistance  of 
a  friend-— to  so  much  inconvenience  however  did 
this  continual  apprehension  and  fear  subject  me,  that 
1  was  finally  half  resolved  to  surrender  myself  a  pri- 
soner to  some  of  his  Majesty's  officers;  and  submit  to 
my  fate,  whatever  it  might  be,  when  by  an  unexpec- 
ted occurrence .  and  ihe  seasonable  interposition  of 
providence  in  my  favour,  I.  was  induced  to  change  my 
resolution. 

I  had  been  strongly  of  the  opinion  by  what  I  had 
myself  experienced,  that  America  was  not  without 
her  friends  in  England,  and  those  who  were  her  well 
wishers  in  the  important  cause  in  which  she  was  at 
that  moment  engaged  ;  an  opinion  which  i  think  no 
one  will  disagree  with  me  in  saying,  was  somewhat 
confirmed,  by  a  circumstance  of  that  importance^  as 
entitles  it  to  a  conspicuous  place  in  my  narrative* 
At  a  moment  when  driven  almost  to  a  state  of  des- 
pondency by  continual  alarms  and  fears  of  falling  in- 
tojthe  hands  of  a  set  of  desperadoes,  who  for  a  very 
small  reward  would  willingly  have  undertaken  the 
commission  of  almost  any  crime;  I  received  a  mes- 
sage from  a  gentleman  of  respectability  of  Brintford 
(J,  Woodcock  EsqO  requesting  me  to  repair  imnie- 


tF  ISRAEL  R.    POTTER.  47 

diately  to  his  house— the  invitation  1  was  disposed  to 
pay  but  little  attention  tot  as  I  viewed  it  nothing  more 
than  a  plan  of  my  pursuers  to  decoy  and  entrap  me 
—but,  on  learning  from  my  confidential  friend  that 
the  gentleman  by  whom  the  message  had  been  sent, 
was  one  whose  loyalty  had  been  doubted,  I  was  in- 
duced to  comply  with  the  request* 

I  reached  the  house  of  'Squire  Woodcock  about  8 
e'clock  in  the  evening,  and  after  receiving  from  him 
at  the  door  assurances  that  I  might  enter  without  fear 
or  apprehension  of  any  design  on  his  pan  against  me, 
I  suffered  myself  to  be  introduced  into  a  private 
chamber,  where  were  seated  two  other  gentlemen, 
who  appeared  to  be  persons  of  no  mean  rank,  and 
proved  to  be  no  other  than  Home  Touke  and  James 
Bridges  Esquires— -as  all  three  of  these  gentlemen 
tiave  long  since  paid  the  debt  of  nature,  and  are  pla- 
ced beyond  the  reach  of  such  as  might  be  disposed 
to  persecute  or  reproach  them  for  their  disloyally,  I 
can  now  with  perfect  safety  disclose  their  names- 
names  which  ought  to  be  dear  to  every  tiue  Ameri- 
can. 

After  having  (by  their  particular  request)  furnHi. 
-ed  these  gentlemen  with  a  brief  account  of  the  most 
important  incidents  of  my  life,  I  underwent  a  very 
strict  examination,  as  they  seemed  determined  to  sat- 
isfy themselves,  before  they  made  any  important  ad- 
vances or  disclosures,  that  I  was  a  person  in  whom 
they  could  repose  implicit  confidencet  Finding  me 
Firmly  attached  to  the  interests  of  my  country,  so 


48  LIFE    AN»    ADVENTURES 

much  so  as  to  be  willing  to  sacrifice  even  my  life  if 
necessary  in  her  behalf,they  began  to  address  me  with 
less  reserve  ;  and  after  bestowing  the  highest  encom- 
iums on  my  countrymen,  for  the  bravery  which  they 
had  displayed  in  their  recent  engagements  with  the 
British  troops,  as  well  as  for  their  patriotism  in  pub* 
licly  manifesting  their  abhorrence  and  detestation  of 
the  ministerial  party  in  England,  who  to  alienate  their 
affections  and  to  enslave  them,  had  endeavoured  to 
subvert  the  British  constitution  ;  they  enquired  of  me 
if  (to  promote  the  interests  of  my  country)  I  should 
have  any  objection  to  take  a  trip  to  Paris,  on  an 
important  mission,  if  my  passage  ar.d  other  expert 
ces  were  paid,  and  a  generous  compensation  ai- 
lowed  me  for  my  trouble  ;  and  which  in  all  prob- 
ability would  lead  to  the  means  whertby  I  might 
be  enabled  to  return  to  rny  country — 10  which  I 
replied  that  I  should  have  none.  After  having  en- 
joined upon  me  to  keep  every  thing  which  they 
had  communicated,  a  piofound  secret,  they  pre- 
sented me  with  a  guinea,  and  a  letter  for  a  gen- 
tleman in  White  Waltam  (a  country  town  about  SO 
miles  from  B;intibrcl)  which  they  requested  me  to 
reach  as  soon  as  possible,  and  there  remain  until 
they  should  send  lor  me,  and  by  no  means  to  fail 
to  arrive  at  the  precise  hour  that  they  should  ap- 
point. 

After  partaking  of  a  little  refreshment  I  set  out 
at  12  o'clock  at  night,  and  reached  White  Wat- 
tarn  at  half  past  11  the  succeeding  day,  and  imiwe* 


OT  ISRAEL  R.  POTTER;  49 

dlately  waited  on  and  presented  the  letter  to  the 
gentleman  to  whom  it  was  directed,  and  who  gave 
me  a  very  cordial  reception,  and  whom  I  soon 
found  was  as  real  airiend  10  America**  cause  as  the 
three  gentlemen  in  whose  company  I  had  last  been- 
It  was  from  him  that  1  received  the  first  info' maiion 
of  the  evacuation  of  Boston  by  the  Biitish  troops,  and 
of  the  declaration  of  IKDEPEMOENCL,  by  the  Ameri- 
can Congress— he  indeed  appeared  to  possess  a 
knowledge  of  almost  every  important  transaction  ire 
America,  since  the  memorable  battle  of  Banker-Hill^ 
and  it  was  to  him  thai  1  was  indebted  for  many  par- 
ticulars, not  a  little  interesting  to  myself,  and  which 
I  might  otherwise  have  remained  ignorant  of,  as  I 
have  always  found  it  a  principle  of  the  Britains,  to 
conceal  every  thing  calculated  to  diminish  or  tarnish 
their  fame,  as  a  "  great  and  powerful  nation  1" 

1  remained  in  the  family  of  this  gentleman  about 
a  fortnight,  when  I  received  a  letter  from  "Squire 
Woodcock,  requesting  me  to  be  at  his  house  with* 
out  fail  precisely  at  2  o'clock  the  morning  ensuing-— 
in  compliance  of  which  I  packed  up  and  started  im- 
mediately for  Brintford,  and  reached  the  house  of 
'Squire  Woodcock  at  the  appointed  hour—I  found 
there  in  company  with  the  latter,  the  two  gentlemen 
whose  names,  I  have  before  mentioned,  and  by  whom 
the  object  of  my  mission  to  Paris  was  now  made 
known  to  me— which  was  to  convey  in  the  most  se- 
cret manner  possible  a  letter  to  Dr.  FRANKLIN  ;  eve- 
ry thing  was  in  readiness,  and  a  chaise  ready  harness- 
5 


53  LIFE   AND   ADVENTURES 

ed  which  was  to  convey  me  to  Charing  Cross,  wait- 
ing at  the  door — I  was  presented  with  a  pair  of  boots., 
made  expressly  for  me,  and  for  the  safe  conveyance 
of  the  letter  of  which  1  was  to  be  the  bearer,  one  of 
them  contained  a  false  heel,  in  which  the  Utter  was 
deposited,  and  was  to  be  thus  conveyed  to  the  Doc- 
tor. After  again  repeating  my  former  declarations, 
4hat  whatever  might  be  my  fate,  they  should  never 
be  exposed,  I  departed,  and  was  conveyed  in  quick 
time  to  Charing  Cross,  where  ]  took  the  post  coach 
for  Dover,  and  from  thence  was  immediately  convey- 
ed in  a  packet  to  Calais,  and  in  fifteen  minutes  after 
landiag,  started  for  Paris  ;  which  1  reached  in  safety, 
and  delivered  to  Dr.  Franklin  the  letter  of  which  I 
was  the  bearer. 

What  were  the  contents  of  this  letter!  was  never 
informed  and  never   knew,  but  had  but  little  doubt 
but  that  it  contained  important  information  relative  to 
the  views  of  the  British  cabinet,  as  regarded  the  af« 
fairs  of  America  ;  and  although  I  well  knew  that  a 
discovery  (while  within  the  British  dominions)  would 
have  proved  equally  fatal  to  me  as  to  the  gentlemen 
by   whom  I  was  employed,  yet,  1  most  solemnly  de- 
clare, that  to  be. serviceable  to  my  country  at  that  im- 
portant period,  was  much  more  of  an  object  with  me, 
than  the  reward  which  1  had  been  promised,  howev- 
er considerable  it  might  be.     My  interview  with  Dr» 
Franklin  was  a  pleasing  one — for  nearly  an  hour  he 
cu^ersed  with  me  in  the  ir.ost  agreeable  and  instruc- 
tive xnanr.er,  and  Jistf  ned  to  the  tale  of  my  sufferings 


OJf  ISRAEL   R.    POTTER.  i 

with  much  apparent  interest,  and  seemed  disposed  to 
encourage  me  with  the  assurance  that  if  the  Ameri- 
cans should  succeed  in  their  grand  object,  and  firm* 
ly  establish  their  Independence,  they  would  not  fail 
to  remunerate  their  soldiers  for  their  services— but, 
alas  !  as  regards  myself,  these  assurances  have  not 
as  yet  been  verified  !•— I  am  confident,  however,  that 
had  it  been  a  possible  thing  for  that  great  and  good 
znan  (whose  humanity  and  generosity  have  been  the 
theme  of  infinitely  abler  pens  than  mine)  to  have  liv- 
ed to  this  day,  I  should  not  have  petitioned  my  coun- 
try in  vain  for  a  momentary  enjoyment  of  that  provi- 
sion, which  has  been  extended  to  so  great  a  portion 
of  my  fellow  soldiers ;  and  whose  hardships  and  de- 
privations, in  the  cause  of  their  country,  could  not  I 
am  sure  have  been  half  so  grear  as  mine  ! 

After  remaining  two  days  in  Paris,  letters  were  de- 
livered to  me  by  the  Doctor,  to  convey  to  the  gentle- 
men by  whom  I  had  been  employed,  and  which  for 
their  better  security  as  well  as  my  own,  I  deposited 
as  the  other,  in  the  heel  of  my  boot,  and  with  which 
to  the  great  satisfaction  of  my  friends  1  reached  Brint- 
ford,  in  safety,  and  without  exciting  the  suspicion  of 
any  one  as  to  the  important,  (although  somewhat  dan- 
gerous) mission  that  I  had  been  engaged  in.  JB  re- 
mained secreied  in  the  house  of  'Squire  Woodcock 
a  few  clays,  and  then  by  his  and  the  two  other  gentle- 
mei.'s  request,  made  a  second  trip  to  Paris,  and  in 
reaching  which  and  in  delivering  my  letters,  was  e* 
qually  as  fortunate  as  in  my  first.  If  I  should  sue- 


52  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

eed  in  returning  in  safety  to  Brintford  this  trip,  i 
Was  (agreeable  to  the  generous  proposal  of  Doctor 
Franklin)  to  return  immediately  to  France,  from 
Whence  he  was  to  procure  me  a  passage  to  America  ? 
—but,  although  in  my  return  I  met  with  no  difficul- 
ty} yet,  as  if  fate  had  selected  me  as  a  victim  to  en- 
dure the  miseries  and  privations  which  alterward  at- 
tended me,  but  three  hours  before  1  reached  Dover 
to  engage  a  passage  for  the  third  and  last  time  to  Ca. 
Jaist  all  intercourse  between  the  two  countries  was 
prohibited ! 

My  flattering  expectations  of  being  enabled  soon 
to  return  to  my  native  country,  and  once  more  to 
meet  and  enjoy  the  society  of  my  friends,  (after  an 
absence  of  more  than  twelve  months)  being  thus  by 
an  unforeseen  circumstance  completely  destroyed,  I 
returned  immediately  to  the  gentlemen  by  whom  I 
had  been  last  employed  to  advise  with  them  what  it 
Would  be  best  for  me  to  do,  in  my  then  unpleasant 
situation — for  indeed,  as  all  prospects  were  now  at  an 
end,  of  meeting  with  an  opportunity  very  soon  to  re- 
turn to  America,  I  could  not  bear  the  idet  of  remain- 
ing any  longer  in  a  neighborhood  where  I  was  so 
strongly  suspected  of  being  a  fugitive  from  justice 
and  under  continual  apprehension  ot  being  retaken, 
and  immured  Hke  a  felon  in  a  dungeon, 

By  these  gentlemen  1  was  advised  to  repair  imme- 
diately to  London,  where  employed  as  a  labourer,  if  I 
did  not  imprudently  betray  myself  they  thought  there 
was  little  probability  of  my  being  suspected  ot  being 


OF  ISRAEL  a,  POTTER.  53 

an  American.  This  advice  1  readily  accepted  as  the 
plan  was  such  a  one  as  exactly  accorded  with  my  o- 
pinion,  for  from  the  very  moment  that  I  first  escaped 
from  the  clutches  of  my  captors,  I  thought  that  i  i 
the  city  of  London  I  should  not  be  so  liable  to  be  sus- 
pected and  harrassed  by  the  soldiers,  as  I  should  to 
remain  in  the  country.  These  gentlemen  supplied 
me  with  money  sufficient  to  defray  ray  expence*  and 
would  have  willingly  furnished  me  with  a  recom- 
mendation had  they  not  been  tearful  that  if  1  should 
be  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  recognised  by  any  one  ac- 
quainted with  the  circumstance  of  my  capture  and  es« 
cape,  those  recommendations  (as  there  loyalty  was 
already  doubted)  might  operate  much  against  them} 
in  as  much  as  they  might  furnish  a  clue  to  the  dis- 
covery of  some  transactions  which  they  then  felt  un- 
willing to  have  exposed.  I  ought  here  to  state  that 
before  1  set  out  for  London,  I  was  entrusted  by  these 
gentlemen  with  Five  Guineas,  which  I  was  request- 
ed  to  convey  and  distribute  among1  a  number  of  A- 
mericans,  then  confined  as  prisoners  of  war,  in  one  of 
the  city  prisons 

I  reached  London  late  in  the  evening  and  the  next 
day  engaged  board  at  Five  Shillings  per  week,  .-t  a 
public  house  in  Lombard  Street,  where  under. a  ficti- 
cious  name  I  passed  for  a  farmei  from  Lincolnshire— 
my  next  object  was  to  find  my  way  to  the  prison  where 
were  confined  as  prisoners  of  war  a  number  of  my 
countrymen,  and  among  whom  I  was  directed  to  dis- 
tribute the  5  guineas  with  which  1  had  been  entrust-  > 
5*  ' 


54  L1IE    AND    ADVENTURES 

cd  for  that  purpose  by  their  fi  lends  at  Brintfcrd.— •£ 
found  the  prison  without  much  difficulty,  but  it  was 
•with  very  considerable  difficulty  that  1  gained  admit- 
tance,  and  not  until  I  had  presented  the  turnkey  with 
a  considerable  lee  would  he  consent  to  indulge  me, 
The  reader  will  suppose  that  I  must  have  been  very 
much  surprised,  when,  as  soon  as  the  door  of  the  pri- 
soner's apartment  was  opened,  and  1  had  passed  the 
threshold*  to  hear  one  of  them  exclaim  with  much 
apparent  astonishment,  u  Potter  1  is  that  you  J  how  in 
the  name  of  heaven  came  you  here  !'* — an  exclama- 
tion like  this  by  one  of  a  number  to  whom  1  suppos- 
ed myself  a  perfect  stranger,  caused  me  much  un- 
easiness  for  a  few  moments,  as  I  expected  nothing 
less  than  to  recognize  in  this  man,  some  one  of  my 
old  shipmates,  who  had  undoubtedly  a  knowledge  oi 
the  fact  of  my  being  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  having 
been  confined  as  such  on  boaid  the  guard  ship  at  spit- 
head— but|  in  this  I  soon  found  to  my  satisfaction 
that  I  was  mistaken,  for  after  viewing  for  a  moment 
the  person  by  whom  I  had  been  thus  addressed,  I 
discovered  him  to  be  no  other  than  my  old  friend 
seargent  Singles,  with  whom  1  had  been  intimately 
acquainted  in  America — as  the  exclamation  was  in 
presence  of  the  turnkey,  least  I  should  have  the  key 
turned  upon  me,  and  be  considered  as  lawful  a  pri- 
soner as  any  of  the  rest,  1  hinted  to  my  iriend  that 
lie  certainly  mistook  me  (a  Lincolnshire  farmer)  for 
another  person,  and  by  a  wink  which  he  received  from 
me  at  the  same  moment  gave  him  to  understand  that 


OF   ISRAEL   R,    POTTER.  55 

a  renewal  of  our  acquaintance  or  an  exchange  of  ci- 
vilities would  be  more  agreeable  to  me  at  any  other 
time.  I  now  as  1  hail  been  requested  divided  the  mo- 
ney as  equally  as  possible  among  tnem,  and  to  pre- 
vent the  suspicions  of  the  keeper,  I  represented  to 
them  in  a  feigned  dialect  peculiar  to  the  labouring 
people  of  the  Shire-towns,  that,"  me  master  was  ow- 
ing a  little  trifle  or  so  to  a  rebel  trader  of  one  of  his 
Majesty's  American  provinces,  and  was  quested  by 
him  to  pay  the  ballance  and  so,  to  his  brother  yankee 
rebels  here  imprisoned ." 

1  found  the  poor  fellows  (fifteen  in  number)  con- 
fined in  a  dark  filthy  apartment  of  about  18  feet 
square;  and  which  I  could  not  perceive  contained 
any  thing  but  a  rough  piank  bench  of  about  IO  feet 
in  length,  and  a  heap  of  straw  with  one  or  two  tatter, 
ed,  filthy  looking  blankets  spread  thereon,  which  was 
probably  the  only  bedding  allowed  them— although 
their  situation  was  such  as  could  not  fail  to  excite  my 
pity,  yet»  I  could  do  no  more  than  lament  that  it  was 
not  in  my  power  to  relieve  them — hew  long  they  re- 
mained thus  confined  or  when  exchanged,  I  could  ne- 
ver learn,  as  I  never  to  my  knowledge  saw  one  of 
them  afterwards. 

For  four  or  five  days,  after  I  reached  London,  I  did 
very  little  more  than  walk  about  the  city,  viewing 
such  cuiiosities  as  met  my  eye  ;  when,  reflecting 
that  remaining  thus  idle,  I  should  not  only  be  very 
soon  out  of  funds,  but  should  run  the  risk  of  being 
suspected  and  apprehended  as  one  belonging  to  one 


5  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

of  the  numerous  gangs  of  pick  pockets  Sec.  which  in- 
fest  the  streets  of  the  city;  I  applied  to  an  Iivelli- 
gence  Office  for  a  coachman's  birth,  which  I  was  so 
fortunate,  as  to  procure,  at  '5  shillings  per  week-- 
my    employer   (J.  Hyslop,   Esq»)  although   rigid  in 
his  exactions;  was  punctual  in  his  payments,  and  by 
my  strict  prudence  and  abstinence  from  the  numer- 
ous diversions  of  the  city,  I  #as  enabled  in   the  six 
months  which  I  served  him,  to    lay   up    more  cash 
than  what   I  had  earned  the  twelve  months    prece- 
ding.    The  next  business  in   which  I  engaged  was 
that  of  brick  making,  and  which   together  with  that 
of  gardening,  I  pursued  in  the  summer  seasons  al« 
most  exclusively  for  five  years ;  in  all    which  time 
I  was   not  once    suspected  of  being  an    American, 
yet,  I  must  confess  that  my  feelings  were  not  un- 
frequently  most  powerfully  wrought  upon,  by  hear- 
ing my  countrymen  dubbed  with  cowardice,  and  by 
those  too   who   had  been  thrice  flogged  or  frighten* 
ed  by  them  when  attempting  to  ascend  the  heights 
of  Bunker  Hill  !  and  to  De  obliged  to  brook  these 
insults  with  impunity,    as   to   have  resented   them 
•would  have  caused  me    to  have  been  suspected  di- 
rectly of  being   attached    to   the   American   cause, 
which  might  have  been   attended  with  serious  con* 
sequences. 

I  should  now  pass  over  the  five  years  that  I  was 
employed  as  above  mentioned,  as  cnecquered  by 
few  incidents  worth  ielating;  was  it  not  for  one  or 
two  circumstances  of  some  little  importance  that. 


OF  ISRAEL  R,  PATTER.  &7 

cither«attcnded  me,  or  came  within  my  own  person- 
al knowledge.  The  reader  has  undoubtedly  heard 
that  the  city  of  London  and  its  suburbs,  is  always 
more  or  less  infested  with  gangs  of  nefarious  wretch- 
es, who  come  under  the  denomination  of  Robbers, 
Pickpockets,  Shoplifters,  Swindlers,  Beggars,  &c. 
who  are  constantly  prowling  the  streets  in  disguise, 
seeking  opportuniiies  to  surprise  and  depredate  on 
the  weak  and  unguarded — of  these  the  former  class 
form  no  inconsiderable  portion,  who  contrive  to  e- 
lude  and  set  at  defiance  the  utmost  vigilance  of 
government— they  are  a  class  who  in  the  day  time 
disperse  each  to  his  avocation,  as  the  better  to  blind 
the  scrutinizing  eye  of  justice,  they  make  it  a  prin- 
ciple to  follow  some  laborious  profession,  and  at 
night  assemble  to  proceed  on  their  nocturnal  rounds, 
in  quest  of  those  whose  well  stored  pockets  promise 
them  a  reward,  equal  to  the  risk  which  they  run  in 
obtaining  it.  As  I  was  one  evening  passing  through 
Hyde  Park,  with  five  guineas  and  a  few  pennys  in 
my  pockets,  1  was  stopped  by  six  of  these  lawless 
footpads  ;  who,  presenting  pistols  to  my  breast,  de- 
manded my  money— .fortunately  for  me  I  had  pre- 
\iously  deposited  the  guineas  in  a  private  pocket  of 
my  pantaloons,  for  their  better  security  ;  thirsting 
their  hands  into  my  other  pockets  and  finding  me  in 
possession  of  but  a  few  English  pennys,  they  took 
them  and  decamped.  I  hastened  to  Bow  Street  and 
lodged  information  of  the  robbery  with  the  officers, 
and  who  U  my  no  little  surprise  informed  me  that 


» 


LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 


mine  was  the  fifth  instance,  of  information  of  simi- 
lar robberies  by  the  same  gang,  which  had  been 
lodged  with  them  that  evening !— •  runners  had  been 
sent  in  every  direction  in  pursuit  of  inerty  but  with 
what  success  I  could  never  learn. 

Despairing  of  meeting  with  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity to  return  to  America,  until  the  conclusion  of 
peace,  and  the  prospects  of  a  continuation  of  the 
war  being  as  great  then  (by  what  I  could  learn)  as 
at  any  period  from  its  commencement,  I  became 
liiore  reconciled  to  my  situation,  and  contracted  an 
intimacy  with  a  young  irouaan  whose  parents  were 
poor  but  respectable,  and  who  I  soon  after  married, 
J  took  a  small  ready  furnished  chamber,  in  Red 
Cross  street,  where  with  the  fruit*  of  my  hard 
earnings,  I  was  enabled  to  live  tolerable  comforta- 
ble for  three  or  fomr  years—when,  by  sickness  and 
other  unavoidable  circumstances,  1  was  doomed  to 
endure  miseries  uncommon  to  human  nature. 

In  the  winter  of  1781,  ne\vs  was  received  in  Lon- 
don of  the  surrender  of  the  army  of  Lord  Corn* 
wallis,  to  the  French  and  American  forces  ! — the 
receipt  of  news  of  an  event  so  unexpected  operated 
on  the  Biitish  ministers  and  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, like  a  tremendous  clap  of  thunder— deep  sor- 
row was  evidently  depicted  in  the  countenances  of 
those  who  had  been  the  most  strenuous  advocates 
for  the  war— i, ever  was  there  a  time  in  which  I 
longed  more  to  exult,  and  to  declare  myself  a  true 
blooded  yankee— and  what  was  still  more  pleasing 


OS1   ISRAEL  R.     POTTER.  59 

to  me,  was  to  find  myself  even  surpassed  in  expres- 
sions of  joy  and  satisfaction,  by  my  wife,  in  conse* 
quence  of  the  receipt  of  news,  which,  while  it  went 
to  establish  the  military  fame  of  my  country  men^ 
was  so  calculated  to  humble  the  pride  of  her  own  ! 
greater  proofs  of  her  regard  for  me  and  my  country 
I  could  not  require, 

The  ministerlpparty  in  Parliament  who  had  been 
the  instigators  of  the  war*  and  who  believed  that 
even  a  view  of  the  bright  glistening  muskets  and 
bay  ones  of  John  Bull,  would  frighten  the  leather 
apron  Yankees  to  a  speedy  submission,  began  now 
to  harbour  a  more  favourable  opinion  of  the  courage 
of  the  latter.  Mis  Majesty  repaired  immediately 
to  the  house  of  peers,  and  opened  the  sessions  of 
parliament  —warm  debates  look  place,  on  account 
of  the  ruinous  manner  in  which  the  American  war 
was  continued  ;  but  Lord  North  and  his  party  ap- 
peared yet  unwilling  to  give  up  the  contest.  The 
capitulation  of  Cornwallis  had  however  one  good 
effect,  as  it  produced  the  immediate  release  of  Mr. 
juaurens  from  the  Tower,  and  although  it  did  not 
put  an  immediate  end  to  the  war,  yet  all  hopes  of 
conquering  America  from  that  moment  appeared  to 
be  given  up  by  all  except  North  and  his  adher* 


There  was  no  one  engaged  in  the  cause  of  Ameri- 
ca>  that  did  more  to  establish  herfa:.ns  m  Enghnd, 
and  to  satisfy  the  high  boasting  Britains  of  the 
bravery  and  unconquerable  resolutions  of  the  ¥"an- 


60  LIFE    AKD    ADVENTURES 

kees,  than  that  bold  adventurer  capt.  Paul  Jones ; 
who,  lor  ten  or  eleven  months  kept  all  the  western 
coast  of  the  island  in  alarm — he  boldly  landed  at 
Whitehaven,  where  he  burnt  a  ship  in  the  harbour, 
and  even  attempted  to  burn  the  town  ;— nor  was 
this  to  my  knowledge  the  only  instance  in  which 
the  Britains  were  threatened  Mritjwa  very  serious 
conflagration,  by  the  instigation  SPtheir  enemies 
abroad — a  daring  attempt  was  made  by  one  James 
Aitkin,  commonly  known  in  London  by  the  name 
of  John  the  Painter,  to  set  fire  to  the  royal  dock 
ar;d  shipping  at  Portsmouth,  and  would  probably 
Jiave  succeeded,  had  he  not  imprudently  communi- 
cated his  intentions  to  one,  who,  lor  the  sake  of  a 
few  guineas,  shamefully  betrayed  him— poor  Aiikin 
was  immediately  seized,  tried,  Condemned,  execu- 
ted and  hung  in  chains— -every  means  was  used  to 
extort  from  him  a  confession  by  whom  he  had  been 
employed,  but  without  any  success— it  was  however 
strongly  suspected  that  he  had  been  employed  by 
the  FreRch,  as  it  was  about  the  time  that  they  open- 
ly declared  themselves  in  favour  of  the  Americans. 
With  regard  to  Mr.  Laurens,  I  ought  to  have 
mentioned  that  as  soon  as  I  heard  of  his  capture  on 
his  passage  to  Holland,  and  of  his  confinement  in 
the  Tower,  1  applied  for  and  obtained  permission 
to  visit  him  in  his  apartment,  and  ;with  some  dis- 
tant hopes  that  he  might  point  out  some  way  in 
which  I  might  be  enabled  to  return  to  America)  I 
itated  to  him  every  particular  as  regarded  my  situ* 


OF   ISRAEL   H.    POTTER.  6) 

ation.  He  seemed  not  only  to  lament  very  much 
my  hard  fortune,  but  (to  use  his  own  words)  "  that 
America  should  be  deprived  of  the  services  of  such 
men,  at  the  important  period  too  when  she  most  re- 
quired them.*' — He  informed  me  that  he  was  him- 
self held  a  prisoner,  and.  knew  not  when  or  on  what 
conditions  he  would  be  liberated,  but  should  he 
thereafter  be  in  a  situation  to  assist  me  in  obtaining 
a  passage  to  America,  he  should  consider  it  a  duty 
which  he  owed  his  country  to  do  it. 

Although  I  succeeded  in  obtaining  by  my  indus- 
try, a  tolerable  living  for  myself  and  family,  yet,  so 
far  from  becoming  reconciled  to  my  situation,  I  was 
impatient  for  the  return  of  Peace,  when  (as  1  then 
flattered-myself)  I  should  once  more  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  return  to  my  native  country.  I  became  eve- 
ry dsy  less  attached  to  a  country  where  i  could  not 
meet  with  any  thing  (with  the  exception  of  my  little 
family)  that  could  compensate  me  fur  the  loss  of  the 
pleasing  society  of  my  kindred  and  friends  in  Amer- 
ica— born  among  a  moral  and  humane  people,  and 
having  in  my  early  days  contracted  their  habits,  and 
a  considerable  number  of  their  prejudices,  it  would 
be  unnatural  to  suppose  that  I  should  not  prefer  their 
society,  to  either  that  of  rogues,  thieves,  pimps  and 
vagabonds,  or  of  a  more  honest  but  an  exceedingly 
oppressed  and  forlorn  people. 

1  found  London  as  it  haci  been  represented  to  me, 

a  large  and  magnificent  city,  filled  with  inhniiu  it* 

fcf  almost  every  description  and  occupation— and 

6 


LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

an  one  indeed  as  might  be  pleasing  to  an  English- 
man, delighting  in  tumult  and  confusion,  and  accus. 
tomed  to  witness  scenes  of  riot  and  dissapation,  as 
well  as  those  of  human  infliction  ;  and  for  the  sake  of 
variety,  would  be  willing  to  imprison  himself  wiihin 
the  walls  of  a  Bedlam,  where  continual  noise  would 
deafen  him,  where  the  unwholesomenesa  of  the  air 
would  effect  his  lungs,  and  where  the  closeness  of 
the  surrounding  buildings  would  not  permit  him  to 
enjoy  the  enlivening  influence  of  the  sun  !  There  is 
not  perhaps  another  city  of  its  size  in  the  whole 
world,  the  streets  of  which  display  a  greater  contrast 
in  the  wealth  and  misery,  the  honesty  and  knavery, 
of  its  inhabitants,  than  the  city  of  London,  The  eyes 
of  the  passing  stranger  (unaccustomed  to  witness 
such  scenes)  is  at  one  moment  dazzled  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  pompous  wealth,  wilh  its  splendid  equip- 
page— at  the  next  he  is  solicited  by  one  apparently 
of  the  most  wretched  of  human  beings,  to  impait  a 
single  penny  for  the  relief  of  his  starving  family  ! 
Among  the  latter  class,  there  are  many  ;  however, 
\viio  so  far  from  being  the  real  objects  of  charity  that 
they  represent  themselves  to  be,  actially  possess 
more  wealth  than  those  who  sometimes  benevolently 
bestow  it— these  vile  imposters,  by  every  species  of 
deception  that  was  ever  devised  or  practiced  by  man, 
aim  to  excite  the  pity  and  compassion,  and  to  exiort 
chaiity  from  those  unacquainted  with  their  easy  cir- 
cum|  lances — they  possess  the  faculty  of  assuming  a- 
tiy  character  that  may  best  suit  their  purpose— -some- 


OJ  ISRAEL  R»  POTTI5B.  63 

times  hobbling  with  a  crutch  and  exhibiting  a  wood- 
en leg — at  other  times  »  an  honourable  scar  of  a 
wound,  received  in  Egypt,  at  Waterloo  or  at  Trafal- 
gar, fighting  for  their  most  gracious  sovereign  and 
master  King  George  I" 

Independent  of  these  there  is  another  species  of 
beggars  (the  gypsies)  who  form  a  distinct  clan,  and 
will  associate  with  none  but  those  of  their  own  tribe 
— they  are  notorious  thieves  as  well  as  beggars,  and 
constantly  infest  the  streets  of  London  to  the  great 
annoyance  of  strangers  and  those  who  have  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  wealthy — they  have  no  particular 
home  or  abiding  place,  but  encamp  about  in  open 
fields  or  under  hedges,  as  occasion  recpjires — they 
are  generally  of  a  yellow  complexion,  an  1  cnnvc-sc 
in  a  dialect  peculiar  only  to  themselves — their  thiev- 
ing propensities  does  not  unfrequently  lead  them  to 
kidnap  little  children,  whenever  an  opportunity  pre- 
sents ;  having  first  by  a  dye  changed  their  complex- 
ion to  one  that  corresponds  with  their  o  vn,  they  re- 
present them  as  their  own  offspring,  and  carry  them 
about  hali  naked  on  their  backs  to  excite  the  pity  and 
compassion  of  those  of  whom  they  beg  chanty.  An 
instance  of  this  species  of  theft  by  a  party  of  these 
unprincipled  vagabonds,  occurred  once  in  my  neigh« 
borhood  while  an  inhabitant  of  London — the  little 
girl  kidnapped  was  the  daughter  of  a  Capt.  Kellem 
of  Coventry  Street — being  sent  abroad  on  some  busi- 
ness ior  her  parents,  she  was  mst  by  a  gang  of  Gyp- 
sies, consisting  of  five  men  and  six  women,  who  seiz- 


£4  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

ed  her,  and  forcibly  carried  her  away  to  their  camp, 
In  the  country,  at   a  considerable   distance,  having1 
first  stripped  her  of  hero  wn  cloathes,  and  in  exchange 
dressed  her  in  some  of  their  rags— thus  garbed  she 
travelled  about  the  country  with  them  for  nearly  7 
months,  and  was  treated  as  the  most  abject  tlavev  and 
her  life  threatened  if  she  should  endeavour  to  escape 
or  divulged  her  slory ; — she  stated  that  during  the 
time  she  was  with  them  they  entrapped  a  little  boy 
about  her  own  age,  whom  they  also  stripped  and  c^p- 
lied  with  them,  but  took  particular  care  he  should 
never  converse  with  her,  treating  him  in  the  like  sa- 
vage manner  ;  she  said  that  they  generally  travelled 
by   cross    roads   and  private  ways,    ever  keeping  a 
watchful  eye  that  she  might  not  escape,  and  thai  no 
opportunity  offered  until  when,  by  some   accident, 
they  were  obliged  to  send  her  from  iheir  camp  to  a 
neighboring  farm  house,  in  order  to  procure  a  lig-t, 
which  she  took  advantage  of  ;  and  scrambling  over 
hedges  and  ditches;  as  she  Supposed  for  the  distance 
of  8  or  9  miles,  reached  London  worn  out  with  fa- 
tigue and  hunger,   her  suppoit  with  then,  b-.ing  al- 
ways scanty,  and  of  the  worst  sort ;  to  which  was  ad- 
ded the  misery  of  sleeping  under  hedgys,  and  expo., 
sure  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather —  it  was  the  in- 
tention of  the  gypsies  she  said  to  have  coloured  her 
and  the  boy  when  the  walnut  season  approached. 

The  streets  of  London  and  its  suburbs  are  also  in- 
fested with  another  and  a  still  more  dreadful  species 
of  rogues,  denominated  Fcotpads,  and  who  often  mur- 


OF   ISRAEL  R.   POTTER*  65 

der  in  the  most  inhuman  manner,  for  the  sake  of  on- 
ly a  few  shillings,  any  unfortunate  people  who  hap- 
pen to  fall  in  their  way — of  this  I  was  made  acquain- 
ted with  enumerable  instances,  while  an  inhabitant  of 
London  ;  I  shall  however  mention  but  two  that  1  have 
now  recollection  of:— 

A  Mr  Wylde  while  passing  through  Marlborough 
Street,  in  a  chahe,  was  stopped  by  a  footpad,  who, 
on  demanding  his  money,  received  a  few  shillings. 
but  being  dissatisfied  with  the  little  booty  he  ob'ained, 
slill  kept  a  pistol  at  Mr.  Wylde's  head,  and  on  the 
latter's  attempting  gently  to  turn  it  aside,  the  villain 
fired,  and  lodged  seven  slugs  in  his  head  and  breast, 
which  caused  instant  death— Mr.  W.  expired  hi  the 
arms  of  his  son  and  grandson  without  a  groan.  A 
few  days  after  as  a  Mr.  Gre.enhill  was  passing  through 
York-Street  in  a  single  horse  chaise,  lie  was  met  and 
stopped  by  three  footpadss  armed  with  pistols  owe  of 
them  seized  and  held  the  horse's  head,  while  ihe  o- 
ther  two  most  inhumanely  dragged  Mr.  G.  over  the 
back  of  his  chaise,  and  alter  robbing  him  of  his  notes, 
watch  and  hat  gave  him  two  severe  cuts  on  his  head 
and  left  him  in  that  deplorable  state  in  the  road.— 
The  above  are  but  two  instances  of  hundreds  of  a 
similar  nature^  which  yearly  occur  in  the  most  public 
streets*  of  the  city  of  London*  The  city  is  infested 
with  a  slill  higher  order  of  rogues,  denominated  pick* 
pockets  or  cmpurses,  who  to  carry  on  their  nefarious 
practices,  garb  themselves  like  gentlemen,  and  inirc- 

•'•   ce  themselves  into  the  most  fashionable  circles  j 
6* 


66  LIFK     AND    ADVENTURES 

many  of  them  indeed  are  persons  who  once  sustain- 
ed respectable  characters,  but  who,  by  extravagance 
and  excesses,  have  reduced  themselves  to  want)  and 
find  themselves  obliged  at  last  to  have  recourse  to 
pilfering  and  thieving. 

Thus  have  I  endeavoured  to  furnish  the  leader 
with  the  particulars  of  a  few  of  the  vices  peculiar  to  a 
large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  London 
—to  these  might  be  added  a  thousand  other  misde. 
meanors  of  a  less  criminal  nature,  daily  practiced  by 
striplings  from  the  age  of  six,  to  the  hoary  headed  of 
ninety  I—this  1  assure  my  readers  is  a  picture  cor- 
rectly deliniated  and  not  too  highly  wrought  of  a  ci- 
ty famous  for  its  magnificence,and  where  1  was  doom- 
ed to  spend  more  than  40  years  of  my  life,  and  in 
which  time  pen,  ink,  and  paper  would  fail,  were  I  to 
attempt  to  record  the  various  instances  of  misery  and 
want  that  attended  me  and  my  poor  devoted  family. 

In  September  1783,  the  glorious  news  of  a  defin- 
itive treaty  of  Peace  having  been  signed  between  the 
United  States  and  Great-Britain,  vas  publicly  an- 
nounced in  London— while  on  i  he  minds  of  those 
who  had  been  made  rich  by  the  war,  the  unwelcom- 
cd  news  operand  apparently  like  a  paralytic  stroke^ 
a  host  of  those  whose  views  had  been  inimical  to  the 
cause  of  America,  and  had  sought  refuge  in  England, 
attempted  to  disguise  their  disappointment  and  cejec» 
tion  under  a  veil  of  assumed  cheerfulness.  As  re- 
garded myself,  1  can  only  say,  that  had  an  event  so 
long  and  ardently  vusl.cu  lor  by  me  taken  place  but 


OF  IS.RAEL  R«  POTTER.  67 

a  few  months  before,  I  should  have  hailed  it  as  the'e- 
poch  of  my  deliverance  from  a  state  ?of  oppression 
and  privation  that  I  had  already  too  long  endured. 

An  opportunity  indeed  now  presented  for  me    to 
return  once  more  to   my   native    country,    after  so 

ong  an  absence,  had  I  possessed    the    means  ;  but 
.'uch  was  the  high  price  demanded    for    a    passage, 
and  such  had  been  my  low  wages,  and  the  expences 
attending  the  support  of  even  a  small  family  in  Lon- 
don, that  I  found  myself  at  this  time  in    possession 
of  funds  hardly  sufficient  to   defray    the  expsnce  of 
my  own  passage,  and  much  less  that  of  my  wife  and 
child— hence  the  only  choice  left   me  was  either  to 
desert  them,  and  thereby  subject  them   (far  sepera- 
ted  from  me)  to  the  frowns  of  an  uncharitable  peo- 
ple, or  to  content  myself  to  remain  with  them   and 
partake  of  a  portion  of  that  wretchedness  which  e- 
ven  my  presence  could   not  avert.     When    the    af- 
fairs of  the    American  Government  had   become  so 
far  regulated  as  to   support  a  Consul  at  the  British 
court,  I  murht  indeed  have  availed  myself  individ- 
ually   of  t  ie  opportunity    which    presented   of  pro- 
uring  a   passage  home    at    the  Government's   ex« 
•ence  ;  but  as  this  was  a    priviledge  that   could  not 
>e  extended  to  my   wife    and   child,  my   regard  for 
hem.  prevented  my  embracing  the  only  means  pro- 
vided by  my  country  for  the  return  of  her  captured 
soldiers  and  seamen. 

To  make  the  best  of  my  hard  fortune,  1   became 
as  resigned  and  reconciled  to  my   situation   as   cir- 


68  LIFE   AND    ADVENTURES 

cumstances  would  admit  of;  flattering   myself  that 
fortune  might  at  some  unexpected   moment   so  far 
decide  in  my  favour,  as  to  enable  me  to  accomplish 
my  wishes— I  indeed  bore  my  afflictions  with  a  de- 
gree of  fortitude  which  I  couid  hardly  have  believ- 
ed  myself  possessed  of— I  had  become  an  expert 
workman  at  brick   making,  at  which  business  and 
at  gardening,  I  continued  to   work    for  very  small 
wages,  for  three  or  four  years  after  the  Peace—but 
still  found  my  prospects  of  a  speedy   return    to  my 
country,  by    no   ways   flattering.      The   peace  had 
thrown  thousands  who  had   taken    an   active  part  in 
the  war,  out  of  employ ;  London  was  thronged  with 
them— who,  in  preference   to  starving,  required  no 
other  consideration   for  their  labour  than   a  humble 
living,  which   had  a  lamentable  effect   in   reducing 
the  wages  of  the    labouring    class  of  people  ;  who, 
previous  to  this  event  were   many   of  them    so   ex- 
tremely poor,  as  to  be  scarcely  able  to  procure   the 
necessaries  of  life   for   their  impoverished   families 
—  among  this    class  I  must    rank  myself,  and  from 
this  period  ought  I  to  date  the   commencement  of 
my  greatest  miseries,  which  never  failed-,  to  attend 
me  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  until  that  happy  mo- 
ment,   when    favoured   by    providence,  I   was  per- 
mitted once  more  10  visit  the  peaceful  shores  of  the 
land  of  my  naiivity. 

When  I  first  entered  the  city  of  London,  I  was 
almost  stunned,  while  my  curiosity  was  n-.-t  a  liuie 
excited  bv  what  is  termed  the  t:-  cries  oi  London" 


Or    ISRAEL   R.    POTf  J£R.  69 

—the  streets  were  thronged  by  persona  of  both  sex- 
es and  of  every  age,  crying  each  tho  various  articles 
which  they  were  exposing  for  sale,  or  for  jobs  of 
work  at  their  various  occupations ;— I  ht'Je  thea 
thought  that  this  was  a  mode  which  I  ahiulcl  be  o- 
bliged  myself  lo  adapt  to  obtain  a  scanty  pittance 
for  my  needy  family— but,  such  indeed  proved  to  be 
the  case.  The  great  increase  of  labourers  produ- 
ced by  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  had  S3  great  an 
effect  in  the  reduction  oi  wages,  that  the  trifliag 
consideration  now  allowed  me  by  my  employers  for 
my  services,  in  the  line  of  business  in  which  I  had 
been  several  years  engaged,  was  no  longer  an  ob- 
ject, being  insufficient  to  enable  me  to  procure  a 
humble  sustenance.  Having  in  vain  sought  for 
more  profitable  business,  i  was  induced  to  apply  ta 
an  acquaintance  for  instruction  in  the  art  of  chair 
bottoming,  and  which  1  partially  obtained  from  him 
for  a  trifling  consideration. 

It  was  now  (which  was  in  the  year  1789)  thai  I 
assumed  a  line  of  business  very  different  from  that 
in  which  1  had  ever  before  been  engage J — fortun- 
ately for  nie,  I  possessed  strong  lungs,  which  I 
found  very  necessasy  in  an  employment  the  success 
of  which  depended,  in  a  great  measure,  in  being 
enabled  to  drown  the  voices  of  others  (engaged  hi 
the  same  occupation)  by  my  own— "  Oid  Chairs  to 
Mend,"  became  r.0w  niy  constant  cry  trough  the 
streets  of  London,  from  morning  tonight;  and  al- 
though 1  found  my  business  not  so  profitable  as  I 


70  LITE    AND    ADVENTURES 

could  have  wished,  yet  it  yielded  a  tolerable  support 
for  my  family  some  lime,  and  probably  would  have 
continued  so  to  have  done,  had  not  the  almost  con- 
stant illness  of  my  children,  rendered  the  expences 
of  my  family  much  greater  than  they  otherwise 
would  have  been— thus  afflicted  by  additional  cares 
and  expence,  (although  I  did  every  thing  in  my 
power  to  avoid  it)  I  was  obliged,  to  alleviate  the 
sufferings  of  my  family,  to  contract  some  trifling 
debts  which  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  discharge. 

I  now  became  the  victim  of  additional  miseries— 
I  was  visited  by  a  biliff  employed  by  a  creditor,  who 
seizing  me  with  the  claws  of  a  tyger,  dragged  me 
from  my  poor  afflicted  family  and  inhumanly  thurst 
me  into  prison  I  indeed  no  misery  thai  I  ever  be- 
fore endured  equalled  this — seperated  from  those 
dependent  on  me  for  the  necessaries  of  lii'e,  and 
placed  in  a  situation  in  which  it  was  impossible  tor 
me  to  afford  them  any  relief !— fortunately  for  me 
at  this  melaricholly  moment,  my  vile  ebjoyed  good 
health,  and  it  was  to  her  praise»worthy  exertions 
that  her  poor  helpless  children,  as  well  as  myself, 
owed  our  preservation  from  a  slate  of  starvation  !— 
this  good  woman  had  become  acquiinted  with  many 
who  had  been  my  customers,  whom  she  made  ac- 
quainted with  my  situation,  and  the  sufferings  of  my 
family>  and  who  had  the  humanity  to  furnish  me 
with  work ,4ft ring  my  co^firienisru-- -the  chairs  were 
conveyed  to  and  from  the  prison  by  my  wife--. in 
this  way  I  was  enabled  to  support  myself  and  to 


•»   ISRAEL  R.    POTTER.  71 

contribute  something  to  the  relief  of  my  afflicted 
family.  I  had  in  vain  represented  to  my  unfeeling 
creditor  my  inability  to  satisfy  his  demands,  and  in 
vain  represented  to  him  the  suffering  condition  of 
those  wholly  dependent  on  me ;  unfortunately  for 
me,  he  proved  to  be  one  of  those  human  beasts* 
who,  having  no  soul,  take  pleasure  in  tormenting 
that  of  others,  who  never  feel  but  in  their  own 
misfortunes,  and  never  rejoice  but  in  the  afflictions 
of  others-. .of  such  beings,  so  disgraceful  to  hu- 
man nature,  I  assure  the  reader  London  contains 
not  an  inconsiderable  number. 

After  having  for  four  months  languished  in  a 
horrid  prison,  I  was  liberated  therefrom  a  mere 
skeleton;  the  mind  afllicted  had  tortured  the  body; 
so  much  is  the  one  in  subjection  to  the  other—I 
returned  sorrowful  and  dejected  to  my  afflicted  fam» 
ily,  whom  I  found  in  very  little  better  condition. 
We  now  from  necessity  took  up  our  abode  in  an 
obscure  situation  near  Moorfields ;  where,  by  my 
constant  application  to  business,  I  succeeded  in 
earning  daily  a  humble  pittance  for  my  family, 
bearly  sufficient  however  to  satisfy  the  cravings 
of  nature  ;  and  to  add  to  my  afflictions,  some  one 
of  my  family  were  almost  constantly  indisposed, 

However  wretched  my  situation  there  were  many 
others  at  this  period,  with  whom  I  was  particularly 
acquainted,  whose  sufferings  were  greater  if  possible 
than  my  own;  and  whom  want  and  misery  drove  to 
this  commission  of  crimes,  that  in  any  other  situation 


thpv  wr 


LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 


they  would  probably  not  have  been  guilty  of.  Such 
was  the  case  of  the  unfortunate  Bellamy,  who  was 
capitally  convicted  and  executed  for  a  crime  which 
distresses  in  his  family,  almost  unexampled,  had  in 
a  moment  of  despair,  compelled  him  to  commit.  He 
was  one  who  had  seen  better  days,  was  once  a  com* 
missioned  t  fficer  in  the  army,  but  being  unfortunate 
he  was  obliged  to  quit  the  service  to  avoid  the  hor- 
rors cf  a  prison,  and  was  thrown  on  the  world,  with- 
out a  single  penny  or  a  single  friend.  The  distress- 
es of  his  family  were  such  that  they  were  obliged  to 
live  for  a  considerable  time  deprived  of  all  susten- 
ance except  what  they  could  deiive  from  scanty  and 
piecarious  meals  ot  potatoes  and  n  ilk- -in  this  situ- 
ation his  unfortunate  wife  was  confined  in  child  bed 
--Itdgirg  in  an  obscure  ganet,  she  was  destitute  of 
every  species  of  these  tcnvtniexcc*  almost  indekpen- 
sable  with  feu, ales  in  her  cor  c'hion,  being  herself 
withe ut  clothes,  and  to  procure  a  covering  for  her 
new  born  infant,  el)  iheir  resources  were  exhausted. 
In  this  situation  his  wife  and  children  must  inevita- 
bly have  starved,  were  it  not  for  the  lean  <  f  five  shill- 
ings which  he  walked  frcm  London  to  Blackheaih  to 
borrow.  At  his  trial  lie  made  a  solemn  appeal  to 
heaven,  as  to  the  truth  of  every  particular  as  a. 
bove  stated-  -and  that  so  far  from  wishing  to  ex- 
aggerate a  single  fact,  he  had  suppressed  many 
n;cie  instances  of  calamity  scarcely  to  be  parral- 
leled—  that  after  the  disgrace  brought  upon  him- 
self by  this  single  transaction,  life  could  not  be  a 


OF  ISRAEL  R.  POTTftB.  73 

boon  he  would  be  anxious  to  solicit,  but  that  nature 
pleaded  in  his  breast  for  a  deserving  wife  and  help- 
less child— all  however  was  ineffectual,  he  was  con- 
demned and  executed  pursuant  to  his  sentence. 

I  have  yet  one  or  two  more  raelancholly  instances  of 
the  effects  of  famine  to  record,  the  first  of  which  hap* 
pened  within  a  mile  ot  my  then  miserable  habitation 
—  a  poor  widow  woman,  who  had  been  left  destitute 
with  five  small  children,  and  who  had  been  driven  to 
th?  most  awful  extremities  by  hunger,  overpower- 
ed at  length  by  the  pitiful  cries  of  her  wretched  off- 
spring, for  a  morsel  of  bread,  in  a  fit  of  despair,  rush- 
ed into  the  *hop  of  a  baker  in  the  neighborhood,  antf 
seizing  a  loaf  of  bread  bore  it  off  to  the  relief  of  her 
starving  family,  and  while  in  the  act  of  dividing  it  a- 
mong  them,  the  baker  (who  had  pursued  her)  enter- 
ed arc!  charged  her  with  the  theft— the  charge  she' 
did  not  deny,  but  plead  the  starving  condition  of  her 
wretched  family  in  palliation  of  the  crime  I— the  ba- 
ker noticing  a  platter  on  the  table  containing  a  quan- 
tiiy  of  roasted  meat,  he  pointed  to  it  as  a  proof  that 
she  could  not  have  been  driven  to  such  an  extremity 
by  hunger — but,  his  surprize  may  be  better  imagin- 
ed than  described,  when  being  requested  by  the  half 
distracted  mother  to  approach  and  inspect  more 
closely  the  contents  of  tire  phtter,  to  frid  it  to  con- 
sist of  !he  remains  of  a  roasted  (tog  !  and  which  she 
i. (termed  him  had  been  her  only  food,  and  lhat  of  her 
poor  children,  for  the  three  preceding  days !— the 
baker  struck  with  so  shocking  a  proof  of  the  poverty 


LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

and  distress  of  the  wretched  ianiily,  humanely  contri- 
buted to  their  relief  until  they  were  admitted  into 
the  hospital* 

1  was  not  personally  acquainted  with   the  family, 
but  I  well  knew  one  who  was,  and  who  communica* 
lid  to  me  the  following  melancholly  particulars  of  its 
wretched  situation  ;  and  with  which  I  now    present 
my  readers,  as  another  proof  of  the  deplorable  situa- 
tion of  the  peer  in  England,  after  the  close  of  the  A- 
merican  war  :•—  The  minister  of  a  parish  was  sent 
for  to  attend  the  funeral  of  a  deceased  person  in  his 
neighborhood,   being    conducted   to   the    apartment 
which  contained  the  corpse  (ar.d  which  was  the  only 
one  improved  by  the  wretched  family)  he  found  it  so 
low  as  to  be  unable  to  stand  upright  in  it — in  »  dark 
corner  of  the  room  stocd  a  three  legged  stool,  which 
supported  a  coffin   of  rough  boards,  and  which  con- 
tained the  body  of  the  wretched  mother,  who- had  the 
day  previous  expired  in  labour  for  the  want  of  assis- 
tance.    The  father  was  sitting  on  a  little  stool  over 
a  lew  coals  of  fire,  and  endeavouring  to  keep  the  in- 
fant  warm  in  his  bosom  ;  five  of  his  seven  childien, 
half  naked,   were  asking  their  father  for  a  piece  of 
bread,  while  another  about  three  years  old  was  stand- 
ing over  the  corpse  of  his  motherland  crying,  as  Ue 
was  wont  to  do,   "take  me,  take  me,  mammy  !" — 
»  Mammy  is  asleep,*'   said  one  of  his  sisters  with 
tears  in  her  eyes,  "  mammy  is  asleep,  Johnny,  don't 
cry,  the  good  nurse  has  gone  to  beg  you  some  bread 
and  will  soon  return  I"— In  a  few  minutes  after,  an 


Of   ISRAEL   R.    POTTER.  ?5 

old  woman,  crooked  with  age,  and  clothed  in  tatters 
came  hobbling  into  the  room,  with  a  two-penny  loaf 
in  her  hand,  and  after  heaving  a  sigh,  calmly  set 
down,  and  divided  the  loaf  as  far  as  it  would  go  n- 
mong  the  poor  half  famished  children  ?  and  which 
she  observed  was  the  only  food  they  had  tasted  for 
the  last  24  hours  I  By  the  kind  interposition  of  the 
worthy  divine,  a  contribution  was  immediately  raised 
for  the  relief  of  this  wretched  family. 

I  might  add  many  mbre  melancholly  instances  of 
the  extreme  poverty  and  distress  of  the  wretched 
poor  of  London,  and  with  which  1  was  personally  ac- 
quainted ;  but  the  foregoing  it  is  presumed  will  be 
sufficient  to  satisfy  the  poorest  class  of  inhabitants  of 
America,  that,  if  deprived  of  the  superfluities,  so  Ion;* 
as  they  can  obtain  the  necessaries  of  life,  they  ought 
not  to  murmer,  but  have  reason  to  thank  the  Almigh- 
ty that  they  were  born  Americans.  That  one  half  the 
world  knows  not  how  the  other  haif  lives,  is  a  com- 
mon  and  just  observation;— complaints  and  murmers 
are  frequent  I  find  among  those  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  highly  favoured  country  j  who  are  not  only  bles- 
sed with  the  liberty  and  means  of  procuring  for  them- 
selves and  their  families,  the  necessaries  and  com. 
forts,  but  even  many  of  the  luxuries  of  life  !-~they 
complain  of  poverty,  and  yet  never  knew  what  it  was 
to  be  really  poor  !  having  never  either  experienced 
or  witnessed  such  scenes  of  distress  and  woe  as  I 
have  described,  they  even  suppose  their  imaginary 
wants  and  privations  equal  to  those  of  almost  any  of 
the  human  race  ! 


LIFE    AND    ADVKJJTURE9 

Let  theae  of  my  countrymen   wh/o  thus  i 
themselves  ijniaerraUle  amid  plenty,  -cwws  fthe  atlamic 
and  visit  the  misei^bte  habitation*  of  seal  ewJ  jupaf- 
fected  woe-* if  their  hearts  ane  not  destitute  ofjfeiel- 
»g,  they  will  return  satisfied  to  their  own  peaceful 
*nd  happy  shores,  and  pour  fourth  the  ejaculations 
•I  gratitude  to  that  universal  parent,  who  has  given 
Ibem  abundance  and  exempted  them  from  ihe  thous- 
and ills,  under  the  pressure  of  which  a  great  portion 
of  his  children  drag  the  load  of  life.    Permit  ,rae  to 
enquire  ot  such  unreasonable  murmerers.  have  you 
compared  your  situation  and  circumsiance&of  which 
you  so  much  complain,   with  that  of  those  of  your 
fellow  creatures,  who  are  unable  to  earn  by  their  hard 
labour  even  a  scanty  pittance  for  their  starving  fam- 
ilies ?  have  you  compared  your  situation  and  circum- 
stances with  that  of  those  who  have  hardly  ever  seen 
the  sun,  but  live  confined  in  lead  mines,  stone  quar- 
ries, and   coal    pits  ? — before    you    call    yourselves 
wretched,  take  a  survey  of  the  goals  hi  Europe,  jin 
which  wretched  beings  who  have  been  driven  to  the 
commission  of  crimes  by  starvation,   or  unfortunate 
and  honest  debtors  (who  have  been  torn  trom  their 
impoverished  families)  are  doomed  to  pine. 

So  far  from  uttering  unreasonable  complaints,  tjie 
hearts  of  my  highly  favoured  countrymen  ought  ra- 
ther to  be  filled  with  gratitude  to  that  Being,  by  whose 
assistance  they  have  been  enabled  to  avert  so  jmany 
of  the  miseries  of  life,  so  peculiar  to  a  portion  tf  the 
oi  Europe  at  the  present  day— and 


OF   ISRAEL    B.    POTTER.  77 

after  groaning  themselves  for  some  time  under  the 
yoke  of  foreign  tyranny,  succeeded  in  emancipating 
themselves  from  slavery  and  are  now  blessed  with 
the  sweets  of  iibtrtv  and  the  undisturbed  enjoyment 
of  their  natural  rights  Britain,  imperious  Britain? 
who  once  boasted  the  freedom  of  her  government  and 
the  invincible  power  of  her  arras-  now  finds  herself 
reduced  to  the  humiliating  necessity  of  receiving  les- 
sons of  liberty  from  those  whom  till  late  she  dispis- 
ed  as  slaves  ! — while  our  own  country  on  ihe  other 
hand,  like  a  phenix  rom  her  ashes,  having  emerged 
from  a  long,  an  expensive  and  bloody  war,  and  es- 
tablished a  constitution  upon  the  broad  and  immova- 
ble basis  of  national  equality,  now  promises  to  be- 
come the  permanent  residence  of  peace,  liberty,  sci- 
ence, and  national  ftlicity. —  But,  to  return  to  the  tale 
of  my  own  sufferings- 
While  hundreds  were  daily  becoming  the  wretch- 
ed victims  of  hunger  and  slarvaiior  ,  I  was  enabled  by 
my  industry  to  obtain  a  morsel  each  day  for  my  fam- 
ily ;  although  [hit  morsel,  which  was  to  b*  divided  a- 
nii>ng  four,  would  ma.iy  times  have  proved  insuffici* 
ent  to  have  satisfied  the  hunger  of  one— I  seldom  e- 
ver  failed  from  morning  to  night  to  cry  **  old  chairs 
to  mer.d,"  through  thu  principal  streets  of  the  city, 
but  many  times  with  very  little  success— -if  f  obtained 
four  chairs  to  rebottum  in  the  course  of  one  day,  I 
considered  myself  loi  tunaie  indeed,  but  instances  of 
such  good  luck  were  very  rare ;  it  was  more  fre- 
quent that  I  did  not  obtain  a  single  one,  and  after  cry- 
7* 


78  LIFE    AND   ADVENTUBR3 

ing  the  whole  day  until  1  made  myself  hoarse,  I  was 
obliged  to  return  to  nay  poor  family  at  night  empty 
handed. 

So  many  at  one  time  engaged  in  the  same  business, 
that  had  1  not  resorted  to  other  means  my  family  must 
inevitably  have  starved— while  crying  "  old  chairs  to 
mend,"  I  collected  all  the  old  rags,  bits  of  paper,  nails 
and  broken  glass  which  I  could  find  in  the  streets, 
and  which  I  deposited  in  a  bag,  which  I  carried  with 
me  for  that  purpose— these  produced  me  a  trifle,  and 
that  trifle  when  other  resoarces  failed,  procured  me 
a  morsel  of  bread,  or  a  few  pounds  of  potatoes,  lor 
xny  poor  wife  and  children—  yet  I  murmeicd  nut  at 
the  dispensation  of  the  supreme  Arbiter  of  allot- 
ments, which  had  assigned  to  me  so  humbled  a  line 
of  duty;  although  I  could  not  have  believed  once, 
that  1  should  ever  have  been  brought  to  such  a  state 
of  humiliating  distress,  as  would  have  required  such 
means  to  alleviate  it. 

In  February  1793,  War  was  declared  by  Great 
Britain  against  the  republic  of  France— and  although 
War  is  a  calamity  that  ought  always  to  be  regretted 
by  friends  of  humanity,  as  thousands  are  undoubted  • 
ly  thereby  involved  hi  misery ;  yet,  no  event  could 
have  happened  at  that  time  productive  of  so  much 
benefit  to  me.  as  this— it  was  the  means  of  draining 
the  country  of  those  who  had  been  once  soldiers,  and 
Vho,  thrown  out  of  employ  by  the  peace,  demanded 
a  sum  so  trifling  for  their  services,  as  to  cause  a  re- 
duction  in  the  wages  of  the  poor  labouring  class  of 


OF  ISRAEL  R-  POTTER.  7 

people,  to  a  sum  insufficient  to  procure  the  necessa- 
ries of  life  for  their  families  ;— this  evil  was  now  re- 
moved—the  old   soldiers  preferred  an  employment 
more  in  character  of  themselves,  to  doing  the  drud- 
gery of  the  city— great   inducements  were  held  out 
to  them  to  enlist,  and  the  army  was  not  long  retard- 
ed in  its  operations    for  the   want  of  recruits      My 
prospects  in  being  enabled  to  earn  something  to  sat- 
isfy the  calls  of  nature,  became  now  more  flattering  ; 
— the  great  number  that  had  been  employed  during 
-the  Peace  in  a  business  similar  to  mv  own,  were  now 
reduced  to  one  half,  which  enabled  me  to  obtain  such 
an  extra  number  of  jobs  at  chair  mending,    that  I  no 
longer  found  it  necessary  to  collect  the  scrapings  of 
the  streets  as  I  had  been  obliged  to  do  for  the  many 
months  past      I  was  now  enabled  to  purchase  for  my 
family  two  or  th-iee  pounds  of  fresh  meat  each  week, 
an  article  to  which  (with  one  or  two  exceptions)  we 
had   been   strangers   for  more   than  a  year— having 
subsisted  principally  on  potatoes,  oat  meal  bread,  and 
salt  fish,  and  sometimes,   but  rarely  however,  were 
enabled  to  treat  ourselves  to  a  little  skim  milk. 

Had  not  other  afflictions  attend?  d  me,  I  should  not 
have  had  murh  cause  to  complain  of  very  ex  .^or- 
dinary hardships  or  privations  from  this  period,  un- 
til the  conclusion  of  the  war  in  1817  ; — my  family 
had  increased,  and  to  increase  my  cares  there  was 
scarcely  a  week  passed  but  that  some  one  of  them 
was  seriously  indisposed— of  ten  children  of  which  I 
was  the  faiher,  1  had  the  misfortune  to  bury  seven 


LIFR    AKD   ADVENTURES 

under  five  years  of  age.  and  two  more  after  fhev  hacl 
arrived  to  the  age  of  twenty—  mv  last  and  only  child 
now  living,  it  pleased  the  Almiirhtv  to  spare  to  me, 
to  administer  help  and  comfort  to  his  poor  affl  cted 
parent,  and  without  whose  assistance  I  should  (to 
far  from  having  been  enabled  ot  ct  more  to  visit  the 
land  of  my  nativity)  'ere  this  have  paid  the  debt  of 
nature  in  a  fore  gn  land,  and  that  too  by  a  death  nt 
less  horrible  than  that  of  starvation  1 

As  my  life  wa«  unattended  with  any  very  extraor- 
dinary circumstance  (except  the  one  just  mentioned) 
from  lh;  commencemen*  of  the  war,  until  the  re-es» 
tablishment  of  monarchy  ii,  France-  and  ihe  cessation 
of  hostilities  on  the  part  of  G<eat  Britain,  in  1817,  I 
shall  commence  on  the  miration  of  mv  unpirralel* 
cd  sufferings,  frovp  the  latter  period,  until  that  when 
by  the  kind  interposition  of  P  evidence^  1  was  enabled 
finally  to  obtain  a  pas^e  to  my  na'ive  country  ;  and 
to  bid  an  adieu,  and  I  hope  and  trust  a  final  one,  to 
that  Island,  where  1  had  endured  a  complication  of 
miseries  beycwl  the  power  of  description. 

The  peace  produced  similar  effects  to  that  of  1783 
—thousands  were  thrown  out  of  employ  and  ti;e 
streets  of  London  thronged  wi'h  soldiers  seeking 
means  to  e-rn  3  humble  subsistence.  The  ciy  of 
u  Old  Chairs  to  Mend/'  (and  that  too  at  a  very  r-'duc- 
ed  price)  was  reiterated  through  the  streets  of  Lon- 
don by  numbers  \vho  but  the  month  before  were  at 
\Vat  rloo  fighting  the  battles  ol  their  country—  which? 
so  seriously  effected  my  Lioness  in  this  line,  that  to 


Q*    ISRAEL  R.     POFTEB.  81 

obtain  food  (and  that  of  the  most  bumble  kind)  for 
my  . family j  I  was  obliged  once  more  to  have  recourse 
to  the  collecting  of  scraps  of  rags,  paper.,  glass,  and 
such  other  articles  of  however  trifling  value  that  I 
could  find  in  the  sueets. 

It  was  at  this  distressing  period,  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  impossibility  oi  so  great  a  number  who 
had  been  discharged  from  the  service  procuring  a 
livelihood  by  honest  means,  that  instances  of  thefts, 
and  daring  robberies,  increased  throughout  Great 
Britain  three  fold.  Bands  of  highwaymen  and  rob- 
bers hovered  about  the  vicii.ity  of  London  in  num- 
bers which  almost  defied  suppression  ;  many  were 
taken  and  executed  or  transported  ;  but  this  seemed 
to  render  the  rest  only  the  more  desperately  bold 
and  cruel,  while  house-breaking  and  assassination 
were  daily  perpetrated  with  new  arts  and  outrages 
in  the  very  capital.  Nor  were  the  starving  condi.ion 
of  the  ho  nest  poor,  who  were  to  be  met  with  at  all 
times  of  day  and  in  every  street,  seeking  something 
to  appease  their  hunger,  less  remarkable— unable  to 
procure  by  any  means  within  their  power  sustenance 
sufficient  to  support  nature,  some  actually  became 
the  victims  of  absolute  starvation,  as  the  following 
melancholly  instance  will  show  :— .a  poor  man  ex- 
ha u sted  by  want ;  dropped  down  in  the  street — those 
who  were  passing  unacquainted  with  the  frequency 
of  such  melancholly  events,  at  first  thought  him  in- 
toxicated ;  but  alter  languishing  half  an  hour,  he  ex- 
pired .  On  the  following  day,  an  inquest  was  held 


82  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

on  the  body,  and  the  verdict  of  the  jury  not  giving 
satisfaction  to  the  Coroner,  they  adjourned  to  the 
next  day— In  the  interim,  two  respectable  surgeons 
were  engaged  to  open  the  body,  in  which  not  a  par- 
ticle of  nutriment  was  to  be  found  except  a  little  yel« 
low  substance,  supposed  to  be  grass,  or  some  crude 
vegetable  ;  \fhich  the  poor  man  had  swallowed  to  ap- 
pease the  cravings  of  nature  !-»-this  lamentable  proof 
confirmed  the  opinion  of  the  jury,  that  he  died  for 
want  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  gave  their  ver. 
diet  accordingly. 

Miserable  as  was  the  fate  cf  this  man  and  that  of 
many  others,  mine  was  but  little  better,  and  would 
ultimately  have  been  the  same,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  assistance  afforded  me  by  my  only  remaining 
child,  a  lad  but  six  years  of  age,  I  had  now  arriv- 
ed to  an  advanced  age  of  life,  and  although  posses- 
sing an  extraordinary  constitution  for  one  of  my 
years,  yet  by  my  incessant  labours  to  obtain  subsis- 
tence for  my  family,  I  brought  on  myself  a  severe 
fit  of  sickness,  which  confined  me  three  weeks  to 
my  chamber  ;  in  which  time  my  only  sustenance 
was  the  produce  of  a  few  half  pennys,  which  my 
poor  wife  and  little  son  had  been  able  to  earn  each, 
day  by,  disposing  of  matches  of  their  own  make, 
and  in  collecting  and  disposing  of  the  si  tides  of 
small  value,  of  which  I  have  before  made  mention* 
which  were  to  be  found  thinly  scattered  in  the  streets. 
In  three  weeks  it  was  the  will  of  providence  so  far 
to  restore  to  me  my  strength,  as  to  enable  me  one« 


OF    ISRAEL   B.   POTTER.  «l 

tnore  to  move   abroad   in   search   of  something  to 
support  naiure. 

The  tenement  which  I  at  this  time  rented  and 
which  was  occupied  by  my  family,  was  a  small  and 
wretched  apartment  of  a  garret,  and  for  which  I 
had  obligated  myself  to  pay  sixpence  per  weekj 
which  was  to  be  paid  at  the  close  of  every  week  ; 
and  in  case  of  tailure  (agreeable  to  the  laws  or  cus- 
toms of  the  land)  my  furniture  was  liable  to  be 
seized*  In  consequence  of  my  illness,  and  other 
misfortunes?  I  fell  six  weeks  in  arrears  for  rent ; 
and  having  returned  one  evening  with  my  wife  and 
son,  from  the  performance  of  our  daily  task,  my 
kind  readers  may  judge  what  my  feelings  must 
have  been  to  find  our  room  stripped  of  every  arti- 
cle (of  however  trifling  value)  that  it  contained  I—- 
alas, oh  heavens  !  to  what  er  state  of.  wretchedness 
were  we  now  reduced  !  if  there  was  anything  want- 
ing to  complete  our  misery,  thh  additional  drop  to 
the  cup  of  our  afflictions,  more  than  sufficed.  Al- 
though the  real  value  of  all  that  they  had  taken 
from  me,  or  rather  robbed  me  of,  would  not  if 
publicly  disposed  of,  have  produced  a  sum  probably 
exceeding  five  dollars ;  yet  it  was  our  all,  except 
the  few  tattered  garments  that  we  had  on  our  backsf 
and  were  serviceable  and  alUimportant  to  us  in  our 
impoverished  situation.  Not  an  article  of  bedding 
of  any  kind  w^s  left  us  on  which  to  repose  at  night; 
or  a  chair  or  stool  on  which  we  could  rest  our 
wearied  limbs  !  but,  as  destitute  as  we  were,  and 


84  LIFE    AND   ADVENTURES 

naked  as  they  had  left  our  dreary  apartment,  we 
had  no  other  abiding  place. 

With  a  few  halfpenny's  which  were  jointly  our 
hard  earnings  of  that  day,  I  purchased  a  peck  of 
coal  and  a  few  pounds  of  potatoes ;  which  while 
the  former  furnished  us  with  a  little  fire,  the  latter 
served  for  the  moment  to  appease  our  hunger— by 
a  poor  family  in  an  adjoining  room  I  was  obliged 
with  the  loan  of  a  wooden  bench*  which  served  as 
a  seat  am)  a  table,  Irom  which  we  partook  of  our 
homely  fare  In  this  woeful  situation,  hovering  o- 
ver  a  few  half  consumed  coals,  we  spent  a  sleepless 
night.  The  day's  dawn  brought  additional  afflic- 
tions--my  poor  wife  who  had  until  this  period  borne 
her  troubles  without  a  sigh  or  a  murmur,  and  had 
passed  through  hardships  and  sorrows,  which  noth- 
ing but  the  Supreme  Giver  of  patience  and  forti- 
tude, and  her  peifect  confidence  in  him,  could  have 
enabled  her  to  sustain  ;  yet  so  severe  and  unexpec- 
ted a  stroke  as  the  last;  she  could  not  withstand— 
I  found  her  in  the  morning  gloomy  and  dejected, 
and  so  extremely  feeble  as  to  be  hardly  able  to 
descend  the  stairs. 

We  left  our  miserable  habitation  in  the  morning, 
with  hopes  that  the  wretched  spectacle  that  we  pre- 
sented, weak  and  emaciated  as  we  were,  would 
move  some  to  pity  and  induce  them  to  impart  that 
relief  which  our  situations  so  much  required"-it 
would  however  be  almost  endless  to  recount  the 
many  rebuffs  we  met  with  in  our  attempts  to  crave 


6f    ISRAEL   ft.    JOTTER.  85 

fcgsistance*  Some  few  indeed  were  more  merciful, 
and  whatever  their  opinion  might  be  of  the  cause 
of  our  misery,  the  distress  they  saw  us  in  excited 
their  chanty,  andfcr  their  own  sakes  were  induced 
to  contribute  a  trifle  to  our  wants  We  alternately 
happened  among  savages  and  Christians,  but  even 
the  latter,  too  much  influenced  0y  appearances,  were 
very  sparing  of  their  bounty. 

With  the  small  trifle  that  had  been  charitably  be- 
stowed on  us.  we  relumed  at  night  to  our  wretched 
dwelling,  which,  stripped  as  it  had  been,  could  pro- 
mise us  but  little  more  than  a  shelter,  and  where  we 
spent  the  night  very  much  as  the  preceding  one.— 
Such  was  the  debilitated  state  of  my  poor  wife  the 
ensuing  morning:,  produced  by  excessive  hunger  and 
fatigue,  as  to  render  it  certain,  that  sinking  under  the 
weight  of  misery,  the  hand  of  death  in  mercy  to  hers 
was  about  to  release  her  from  her  long  and  unpar- 
alelled  sufferings.  1  should  be  afraid  of  exciting  too 
pimful  sensations  in  the  minds  of  my  readers,  were 
I  to  attempt  to  describe  my  feelings  at  this  moment, 
and  to  paint  in  all  their  horror,  the  miseries  which 
afterward  attended  me  ;  although  so  numerous  had 
been  my  afflictions,  that  it  seemed  impossible  for  a- 
ay  new  calamity  to  be  capable  of  augmenting  them  ; 
—  men  accustomed  to  vicissitudes  are  not  soon  de- 
jeoted,  but  there  are  trials  which  human  nature  a- 
lone  cannot  surmount—indeed  to  such  a  state  of 
wretchedness  was  I  now  reduced,  that  had  it  not  beea 
'for  my  suffering  family,  life  would  have  been  nolon* 
8 


8«  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

ger  desirable.  The  attendance  that  the  helpless  sit- 
uation of  my  pcor  wife  now  demanded  it  was*  not 
within  my  power  to  afford  her,  as  early  the  next  day 
1  was  reluctantly  driven  by  hunger  abroad  in  search 
of  something  that  might  serve  to  contribute  to  our 
relief.  }  teft  my  unfortunate  companion,  attended  by 
no  other  person  but  our  little  son,  destitute  of  fuel 
and  food,  and  stretched  en  an  armful  of  straw,  which 
I  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  provide  myself  with  the 
clay  preceding  ;— the  whole  produce  of  my  labours 
this  day  (which  I  may  safely  say  was  the  most  mcl- 
ancholly  one  of  iny  life)  amounted  to  no  more  than 
one  shilling!  which  I  laid  out  to  the  best  advantage 
possible,  in  the  purchase  of  a  few  oi  the  necessaries, 
which  the  situation  of  my  sick  companion  most  re- 
quired. 

I  ought  to   have   mentioned,  that  previous  to  this 
melancholly  period,  when  most  severely  afHicud,  I 
had  been  two  or  three  limes  driven  to  the  necessity 
of  making  application  to  the  Overseers  of  the  poor,  of 
the  parish  in  which  I  resided,  for  admittance  inio  the 
Almshouse,  or  for  some  assistance,  but  never  with  a- 
ny  success  ;  having  always  been  put  off  by  them  with 
some  evasive  answer  or  'frivolous  pretence— some- 
times charged  by  them  with  being  an  imposter,  and 
that  laziness  more  than  debility  and  real  want,  hed 
induced  me  to  make  the  application— at  other  times 
}  was  told  that  being  an  American  born,  I  had  no  law- 
ful  claim  on  the  government  of  that  country  for  sup- 
port ;  that  I  ought  to  have  made  application  to  the 


Wr   ISRAEL*  R.     POTTBB.  <  87 

American  Consul  for  assistance,  whose  business  it 
was  to  assist  such  of  his  countrymen  whose  situations 
required  it. 

But  such  now  was  my  distress,  in  consequence  of 
the  extreme  illness  of  my  wife,  that  I  must  receive 
that  aid  so  indispensably  necessary  at  this  important 
trisis,  or  subject  myself  to  witness  a  scene  no  less 
distressing,  than  that  of  my  poor  wretched  wife,  ac- 
tually perishing  for  the  want  of  that  care  and  nour- 
ishment which  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  afford 
her  !  Thus  situated  I  was  induced  to  renew  my  ap- 
plication to  the  Overseer  for  assistance,  representing 
to  him  the  deplorable  situation  of  my  family,  who 
were  actually  starving  for  the  want  of  that  sustenance 
which  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  procure  for  them  ; 
and  what  I  thought  would  most  probably  effect  his 
feelings,  described  to  him  the  peculiar  and  distress- 
ing situation  of  my  wife,  the  hour  of  whose  dissolu- 
tion was  apparently  fast  approaching— but,  I  soen 
found  that  f  was  addressing  one  who  possessed  a 
heart  callous  to  the  feelings  of  humanity— one,  whose 
feelings  were  not  to  be  touched  by  a  representation 
of  the  greatest  misery  with  which  human  nature 
could  be  Afflicted.  •  Tho  same  cruel  observations 
were  made  as  before,  that  I  was  a  vile  imposture  who 
was  seeking  by  imposition  to  obtain  that  support  in 
England,  which  my  own  country  had  withheld  from 
me — that  the  American  Yankees  had  fought  for  and 
obtained  their  Independence,  and  yet  were  not  inde- 
pendent enough  to  support  their  own  poor !— that 


LIFE   AN»  ADTBNTUB1S 

Great  Britain  would  find  enough  to  do,  was  she  to 
afford  relief  to  every  d— d  yankee  vagabond  that 
should  apply  for  it ! — fortunately  for  this  abusive 
feritish  scoundrel,  1  possessed  not  now  that  bodily 
strength  and  activity,  which  I  could  once  boast  of,  or 
the  villian  (w-hether  within  his  majesty's  dominions 
•r  not)  should  have  received  on  the  spot  a  proof  of 
"Yankee  Independence"  for-  his  insolence 

Failing  in  my  attempts  to  obtain  the  assistance 
which  the  lamentable  situation  of  my  wife  required, 
lhad  recourse  to  other  means  —I  waited  on  two  or 
three  gentlemen  in  my  neighborhood,  who  had  been 
represented  to  me  a»  persons  of  humanity,  and  in- 
treated  them  to  visit  my  wretched  dwelling,  and  to 
satisfy  themselves  by  occular  demonstration,  of  the 
state  of  my  wretchedness,  especially  that  of  my  dying 
companion— they  complied  with  my  request,  and 
were  introduced  by  me  to  a  scene,  which  for  misery 
and  distress,  they  declared  surpassed  every  thing  that 
they  had  tv<r  before  witnessed  !— they  accompanied 
me  immediately  to  one  in  whom  was  invested  the 
principal  government  of  the  poor  of  the  parish,  arid 
represented  to  him>  the  scene  of  human  misery  which 
they  had  been  an  eye  witness  to — whereupon  an  or- 
der was  issued  to  have  my  wife  conveyed  to  the 
Hospital,  which  was  immediately  clone  and  where 
she  was  comfortably  provided  for— but,  alas,  the  re- 
lift  which  her  situation  had  so  much  required  had 
been  too  long  deferred— her  deprivation  and  suffer- 
ings had  been  too  great  to  admit  of  her  being  nojF .:, 


07  ISRAEL  R.  POTTER.  #9 

restored  to  her  former  state  of  health,  or  relieved  by 
ary  thitis:  thai.  cou«J  be  administered —after  her  re- 
moval to  the  H  >  pita),  she  lingered  a  few  days  i  •  a 
staie  of  perfect  insensibility,  and  then  closed  her  eyes 
forever  on  a  world,  where  for  many  years,  she  had 
been  the  unhappy  subject  of  almost  constant  afflio 
tion. 

I  felt  very  sensibly  the  irreparable  loss  of  one  who 
had  been  my  companion  in  adversity,  as  well  as  in 
prosperity  ;  and  when  blessed  with  health,  had  affor- 
ded m  by  her  industry  that  assistance,  without 
which,  the  sufferings  of  our  poor  chi  dren  would 
have  been  greater  if  possible  than  what  they  were. 
My  situation  was  now  truly  a  lonely  one,  bereaved  of 
my  wife,  and  all  my  children  except  one  ;  who',  al- 
though but  little  more  than  seven  years  of  age,  was  a 
child  of  that  sprig  hliness  and  activity,  as  to  possess 
himself  with  a  pe;  feet  knowledge  of  >be  chair  bottom- 
ing business,  and  by  which  he  earned  not  only  enough 
(when  work  could  be  obtained)  to  furnish  himself 
with  food,  but  contributed  much  to  the  relief  oi  his 
surviving  parent,  when  confined  by  illness  and  infir- 
mity. 

We  continued  to  improve  the  apartment  from 
which  my  wife  had  been  removed,  until  I  was  so  for* 
tunate  as  to  be  able  to  rem  a  ready  furnished  apart* 
ment  (as  it  was  termed)  at  four  shillings  and  sixpence 
per  week.  Apartments  of  this  kind  are  not  uncom- 
mon in  London,  and  are  intended  to  accommodate 
poor  families,  situated  as  we  were,  who  had  been  so 
S* 


90  LIFE    AND   AD VENT USES 

tinfortunate  as  to  be  stripped  of  every  thing  but  the 
cloathes  on  their  backs  by  their  unfeeling  landlords. 
The.se  «  ready  furnished  rooms"  were  nothing  but 
miserable  apartments  in  garrets,  and  contain  but  few 
more  conveniences  than  what  many  of  our  common 
prisons  in  America  afford — a  bunk  of  straw,  with 
two  or  three  old  blankets,  a  couple  of  chairs,  and  a 
rough  table  about  three  feet  square,  with  an  article 
or  two  of  iron  ware  in  which  to  cook  our  victuals  (if 
we  should  be  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  any)  was  the . 
contents  of  the  "  ready  furnished  apartment"  that  we 
was  now  about  to  occupy— but  even  with  these  few 
conveniences,  it  was  comparatively  a  palace  to  the 
one  we  had  lor  several  weeks  past  improved. 

When  my  health  would  permit,  1  seldom  failed  to 
visit  daily  the  most  public  streets  of  the  city,  and 
from  morning  to  night  cry  for  old  chairs  to  mend — 
accompanied  by  my  son  Thomas,  with  a  bundle  of 
flags,  as  represented  in  the  Plate  annexed  to  this  vol- 
ume If  we  was  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  a  job  of 
work  more  than  we  could  complete  in  the  day,  with 
the  permission  of  the  owner,  I  would  convey  the 
chairs*  on  my  back  to  my  humble  dweLirig,  and  witrr 
the  assi  lance  of  my  little  son,  improve  the  evening 
to  complete  the  work,  which  would  produce  us  a  few 
half  prnnys  to  purchase  something  for  our  breakfast 
the  next  morning— l>ut  it  was  very  seldom  that  in» 
stances  of  this  kind  occurred,  as  it  was  more  fre- 
quently the  ease  that  after  crjing  for  old  chairs  to 
mend,  the  whole  day,  we  were  obliged  to  return^ 


ISRAEL  It.  POTTER  9 1 

hungry  and  weary,  and  without  a  tingle  half  penny 
in  our  pockets,  to  our  humble  dwelling,  where  we 
were  obliged  to  fast  until  the  succeeding  day  ;  and 
indeed  there  were  some  instances  in  which  we  were 
compelled  to  fast  two  or  three  days  successively) 
without  being  able  to  procure  a  single  job  of  wjrk« 
•—The  rent  I  had  obligated  myself  to  pay  every  night, 
and  freqaently  when  our  hunger  was  such  as  hardly 
to  be  endured,  I  was  obliged  to  reserve  the  few  pen- 
nys  that  1  was  possessed  of  to  apply  to  this  purpose. 
In  our  most  starving  condition  when  every  ofher 
plan  failed,  my  little  son  would  adopt  the  expedient 
of  sweeping  the  public  cause- ways  (leading  from  one 
walk  to  the  other)  where  he  would  labour  the  whole 
day,  with  the  expectation  of  receiving  no  other  re- 
ward than  what  the  generosity  of  gentlemen,  who  had 
occasion  to  cross,  would  induce  them  to  bestow  in 
chuity,  and  which  seldom  amounted  to  more  than 
a  few  pennys— sometime  the  poor  boy  would  toil 
in  thi  •  way  the  whole  day,  without  being  so  fortunate 
as  to  receive  a  single  half  penny— it  was  then  he 
would  return  home  sorrowful  and  dejected,  and  while 
he  attempted  to  conceal  his  own  hu  ger.  with  tears 
in  his  eyes,  would  lament  his  hard  fortune  in  not  be- 
ing able  to  obtain  something  to  appease  mine.— - 
While  he  was  thus  employed  i  remained  at  home, 
bat  not  idle,  being  as  busily  engaged  in  making 
matches,  with  which  ('.vhen  he  returned  home  emp- 
ty handed j  we  were  obliged  as  fatigued  jt*  we  were, 
to  visit  the  markets  to  expose  for  sale,  and  where  we 


JS  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

were  obliged  sometimes  to  tarry  until  eleven  o'clock 
at  night,  before  we  could  meet  with  a  single  purcha- 
•er 

Having  one  stormy  night  of  a  Saturday,  visited  the 
market  with  my  son  for  this  purpose,  and  after  expos- 
ing ourselves  to  the  chilling  rain  until  pastjlO  o'clock; 
without  being  able  either  of  us  to  sell  a  single  match) 
1  advised  the  youth  (being  thinly  clad  to  return  home 
feeling  disposed  to  tarry  myself  a  while  longer,  in 
hopes  that  better  success  might  attend  me,  a*  having 
already  fasted  one  day  and  r,irht>  it  was  indispensa- 
bly necessary  that  1  should  ob  am  something  to  ap- 
pease our  hunger  the  succeeding  day  (Sunday)  or 
what  seemed  almost  impossible,  to  endure  longer  its 
torments  !  1  remained  until  the  clock  struck  eleven, 
the  hour  at  which  the  market  closed,  and  yet  had 
met  with  no  better  success  !  It  is  impossible  to  de- 
scribe the  sensation  of  despondency  which  over- 
wlie;med  me  at  this  moment  I  1  now  considered  it 
as  certain  that  I  must  return  home  wiih  nothing 
wherewith  to  satisty  our  craving  appetites—  and  with 
my  mind  filled  with  the  most  heart  rending  reflec- 
tions, I  was  about,  to  return,  when.  Heaven  seemed 
pleased  to  interpose  in  my  behalf,  and  to  send  relkf 
when  I  little  expected  it ;  -passing  a  beef  stall  I  at- 
tracted the  notice  of  the  butcher  who  viewing  me, 
probably  as  I  was,  a  miserable  object  of  i;»'y,  emaci- 
ated i)>  L-ng  iastings,  and  cla  i  in  tattered  garments,, 
fro  n  wuica  the  water  wa^  frst  drippling,  and  judg- 
ing uo  doubt  b)  my  appearance  lhat  on  no  one  could 


Or  ISRAEL    ».    POTTER.  9& 

charity  be  more  properly  bestowed,  he  threw  into  my 
basket  a  beeve's  heart,  with  the  request  that  1  would 
depart  with  it  immediately .  for  my  home,  if  any  I 
had  !  —  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  the  joy  that  1  felt 
on  this  occasion,  in  so  unexpectedly  meeting  with 
that  relief,  which  my  situation  so«much  required,  I 
hastened  home  with  a  much  lighter  heart  than  what 
3  had  anticipated  ;  and  when  I  arrived;  the  sensations 
of  joy  exhibited  by  my  little  son  on  \iewing  the  prize 
that  I  bore,  produced  effects  aa  various  as  extraordi- 
nary ;  he  wept,  then  laughed  and  danced  with  trans- 
port. 

The  reader  must  suppose  that  while  I  found  it  so 
extremely  difficult  to  earn  enough  to  preserve  us 
from  starvation,  I  had  little  to  spare  for  cloathing  and 
other  necessaries  ;  and  that  this  was  really  my  situ* 
ation,  i  thiiik  no  one  will  doubt,  when  1  positively 
declare  that  to  such  extremeties  was  i  driven,  that 
being  unable  to  pay  a  bavber  for  shaving  me  I  was 
obliged  to  adopt  the  expedient  ior  more  than  two 
years,  of  clipping  my  beard  as  close  as  possible  with 
a  pair  of  scissors,  wfcich  1  kept  expressly  ior  that  pur- 
pose  ' — as  strange  and  laughable  as  the  circumstance 
may  appear  to  some,  I  assure  the  reader  that  I  state 
facts,  and  exaggerate  nothing.  As  regarded  our 
cloathes,  1  can  say  no  more  than  that  they  were  the 
best  that  we  could  procure,  and  were  such  as  persons 
in  cur  situation!  were  obliged  to  wear—  they  served 
to  conceal  our  nakedness,  but  would  have  proved  in* 
ftufficiem  to  have  protected  our  bodies,  from  .the  if*» 


;94  L1IE   AND    ADVENTURES 

clemency  ef  the  weather  of  a  colder  climate.  Such 
indeed  was  sometimes  our  miserable  appearance, 
t lad  in  tattered  garments,  that  while  engaged  in  our 
employment  in  crying  for  old  chairs  to  mend,  we  not 
•nly  attracted  the  notice  of  many,  but  there  were  in- 
stances in  which  a  few  half  pennys  unsolicited  weie 
bestowed  on  us  in  charity — an  instance  of  this  kind 
happenetione  day  as  I  was  passing  through  thread- 
needle  street ;  a  gentleman  perceiving  by  the  appear- 
ance of  the  shoes  that  1  wore,  that  they  were  about 
to  quit  me,  pat  a  half  crown  in  my  hand,  and  bid  me 
go  and  cry  "  old  i hoes  to  meed  !'• 

In  long  and  gloomy  winter  evenings,  when  unable 
to  furnish  myself  with  any  other  light  than  that  emit- 
ted by  a  little  fire  of  se« -coal,  I  vrould  attempt  to 
drive  away  mcbncholly  by  amusing  my  son  with  an 
account  of  my  native  country,  and  of  the  many  bles- 
•ings  there  enjoyed  by  even  the  poorest  classof  peo- 
ple—of  their  fair  fields  producing  a  regular  supply 
of  bread— their  convenient  houses,  to  which  they 
could  Repair  after  the  toils  of  the  day,  to  partake  of 
the  fruits  of  their  labour,  safe^  from  the  storms  and 
the  cold,  and  where  they  could  lay  down  their  heads 
lo  rest  without  any  to  molest  them  or  to  make  them 
afraid.  Nothing  could  have  been  better  calculated 
to  excite  animation  in  the  rr.ind  of  the  poor  child,  than 
an  account  so  flattering  of  a  country  which  had  giv- 
en birth  to  his  father,  and  to  which  he  had  received 
my  repeated  assurances  he  should  accompany  me  as 
soon  as  an  opportunity  should  present — after  expres- 


OF  ISRAEL   ft.   POTTER*  95 

sing  his  fears  that  the  happy  day  was  yet  far  distant* 
with  a  deep  sigh  he  wouid  exclaim  "  would  to  God 
it  was  to  morrow  \" 

About  a  year  after  the  decease  of  my  wife,  T  was 
taken  extremely  ill  insomuch  that  at  one  time  my 
life  was  'desparred  of,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  ' 
friendless  and  lonely  situation  in  which  such  an  event 
would  have  placed  my  son,  I  should  have  welcomed 
the  hour  of  my  dessolution  and  viewed  it  as  a  con* 
summation  rather  to  be  wished  than  dreaded  ;  for  so 
great  had  been  my  sufferings  of  mind  and  body,  and 
the  miseries  to  which  I  was  still  exposed,  that  life  ' 
had  reaily  become  a  burthen  to  me—indeed  I  think 
it  would  have  been  difficult  to  have  found  on  the  face 
of  the  earth  a  being-  more  wretched  than  I  had  been 
for  the  three  years  past. 

During  my  illness  my  only  friend  on  earth  waa  my 
son  Thomas,  who  did  every  thing  to  alleviate  my 
wants  within  the  power  of  his  age  to  do—sometimes 
by  crying  for  old  chairs  to  mend  (for  he  had  become 
as  expert  a  workman  at  this  busmen  as  his  father) 
and  sometimes  by  sweeping  the  cause-ways,  and  by 
making  and  selling  matches,  he  succeeded  in  earn* 
ing  each  day  a  trifle  sufficent  to  procure  for  me  and 
himself  a  humble  sustenance.  When  1  had  'so  far 
recovered  as  to  be  able  to  creep  abroad,  and  the  youth 
had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  obuin  a  good  job,  !  wouid 
accompany  him,  although/very  feeble,  and  assist  him 
in  conveying  the  chairs  home— -h  wai>  on  such  occa- 
sions that  my  dear  child  would  manifest  .-bis  tender- 


tfi  LIFE    AND    ADTBNTUH13 

ness  and  affection  for  me,  by  insisting  (if  there  were 
four  chairs)  that  I  should  carry  but  one,  and  he  wouid 
carry  the  remaining  three,  or  in  that  proportion  rfa 
greater  or  less  '-umber. 

From  the  moment  that  I  had 'informed  him  of  the 
many  blessings  •  njoved  by  my  countrymen  of  every 
class  I  \vas  almost  constantly  urged  by  my  son  toap. 
ply  to  the  A  nerican  Consul  tor  a  passage — it  *as  in 
vain  that  I  it  presented  to  him  that  if  such  an  appli- 
cation was  aitended  wiih  success,  and  the  opportuni- 
ty should  be  improved  by  me, 'it  must  rause  our  se- 
peration,  pefhaps  forever ;  as  he  would  not  be  per- 
miued  to  accompany  me  at  the  expence  oi  govern- 
ment —"never  mind  me  (he  would  repl> )  do  noi  lather 
suffer  any  more  on  my  account  \  if  you  can  only  suc- 
ceed in  obtaining  a  passage  to  a  country  where  you 
can  enj<  y  .he  blessings  that  you  have  described  to 
me,  1  mav  hereafter 'be  so  fortunate  as  to  meet  with 
an  opportunity  to  join  you-  -and  it  not,  it  will  be  a 
consolation  to  me,  whatever  my  afflictions  may  be,  to 
think  that  yours  have  ceased!"  My  ardent  wish  to 
return  to  America,  was  not  less  than  that  of  my  son, 
but  could  not  bear  the  thoughts  ot  a  seperation  \  of  lea- 
ving him  behind  exposed  to  all  the  miseries  peculiar 
to  the  friendless  poor  of  that  country  ;---he  was  a 
child  of  my  old  age,  and  from  whom  I  had  received 
too  many  proofs  of  his  love  and  regard  lor  me,  not  to 
feel  that  parental  aff'Ction  for  him  to  which 
able  disposition  entitled  him. 

i  was  indeed  unacquainted  with  the  place  of 


«T    ISRAEL  R.    POTTES.  $? 

dence  of  the  American  Consul— I  had  made  frequent 
enquiries,  but  found  no  one  that  could  inform  me 
eorrectly  where  he  might  be  found  ;  but  so  anxitus 
was  my  son  that  I  should  spend  the  remnant  of  my 
days  in  that  country  where  I  should  receive  (if  noth- 
ing more)  a  Christian  burial  at  my  decease,  and  bid 
adieu  forever  to  a  l&nd  where  I  had  spent  so  great  a 
portion  of  my  life  in  sorrow,  and  many  years  had  en- 
dured the  lingering  tortures  of  protracted  famine » 
that  he  ceased  not  to  enquire  of  every  one  with  whom 
he  was  acquainted,  until  he  obtained  the  wished  for 
information.  Having  learned  the  place  of  residence 
of  the  American  Consul,  and  fearful  of  the  conse- 
quences of  delay,  he  would  give  me  no  peace  until 
1  promised  that  I  would  accompany  him  there  th* 
succeeding  day,  if  my  strength  would  admit  Of  it ; 
for  although  !  had  partially  recovered  from  a  severe 
Tit  of  sickness,  yet  I  was  still  so  weak  and  feeble  as 
to  be  scarcely  able  to  walk. 

My  son  did  not  forget  to  remind  me  early  the  next 
morning  oi  my  promise,  and  to  gratify  him  more  than 
with  an  expectation  of  meeting;  with  much  success* 
I  set  out  with  him,  feeble  as  I  was,  for  the  Consul's. 
The  distance  was  about  two  miles,  and  before  I  had 
succeeded  in  reaching  half  the  way,  I  had  wished 
myself  a  dozen  times  safe  home  again  and  had  it  not 
been  for  the  strong  persuasions  of  my  son  to  the  con* 
trary,  1  certainly  should  have  returned.-*!  was  never 
before  so  sensible  of  the  effects  of  my  long  suffer- 
ings—which had  produced  thatrdegree  of  bodily 


91  fclFR   AND   ADTBNTUBE& 

weakness  and  debility,  as  to  leave  me  scarcely 
strength  sufficient  to  move  without  the  assistance  of 
my  son  ;  who,  when  he  feund  me  reeling  or  halting 
through  weakness,  would  support  me  until  1  had 
gained  sufficient  strength  to  proceed. 

Although  the  distance  was  but  two  miles,  yet  such 
was  the  state  of  my  weakness,  that  although  we  star- 
ted early  in  the  morning*  it  was  half  past  3  o'clock 
P.  M.  when  we  reached  the  Consul's  office,  when  I 
•was  so  much  exhausted  as  to  be  obliged  to  ascend 
the  steps  on  my  hands  and  knees.  Fortunately  we 
found  the  Consul  in,  and  on  my  addressing  him  and 
acquainting  him  with  the  object  of  my  visit,  he  seem- 
ed at  first  unwilling  to  credit  the  fact  that  1  was  an 
American  born— but  after  interrogating  me  some- 
time, as  to  the  place  of  my  nativity,  the  cause  which 
first  brought  me  to  England,  8cc,  he  seemed  to  be 
more  satisfied  ;  he  however  observed  (on  being  in- 
formed that  the  lad  who  accompanied  me  was  my  son) 
that  he  could  procure  a  passage  for  me,  hut  not  for 
him,  as  being  born  in  England,  the  American  gov- 
ernment would  consider  him  a  British  subject,  and 
under  no  obligation  to  defray  the  expence  of  his  pas- 
sage—-and  as  regarded  myself,  he  observed,  that  he 
had  his  doubts,  so  aged  and  infirm  as  I  appeared  to 
be,  whether  I  should  live  to  reach  America,  if  I 
should  attempt  it. 

I  cannot  say  that  I  was  much  surprised  at  the  ob- 
servations of  the  Consul,  as  they  exactly  agreed  with 
what  I  had  anticipated— and  as  anxious  as  I  then  felt 


OF  ISRAEL  R.  POTTER.  $9 

to  Tiiit  once  more  my  native  country,  I  felt  deter- 
mined not  to  attempt  it,  unless  1  could  be  accompa- 
nied  by  my  son,  and  expressed  myself  to  this  effect 
to  the  Consul— the  poor  lad  appeared  nearly  over- 
come with  grief  when  he  saw  me  preparing  to  return 
without  being  able  to  effect  my  object ;  indeed  so 
greatly  was  he  affected,  and  such  the  sorrow  that  hs 
exhibited,  that  he  attracted  the  notice  (and  I  believe 
1  may  add  the  pity)  of  the  Consul— who,  after  mak- 
ing some  few  enquiries  as  regarded  his  disposition, 
age,  &c.  observed  that  he  could  furnish  the  lad  with 
a  passage  at  his*  own  expence,  which  he  should  have 
no  objection  to  do  if  I  would  consent  to  his  living 
with  a  connexion  of  his  (the  Consul,)  on  his  arrival 
in  America— ."but  (continued  he,)  in  such  a  case  you 
must  be  a  while  sepe rated,  for  it  would  be  imprudent 
for  you  to  attempt  the  passage  until  you  have  gained 
more  strength— 1  will  pay  your  board,  where  by  bet- 
ter living  than  you  have  been  latterly  accustomed  to, 
you  may  have  a  chance  to  recruit— but  your  son 
must  take  passage  on  board  the  London  Packet* 
which  sails  for  Boston  the  day  after  to-morrow." 

Although  but  a  few  moments  previous,  my  son 
would  have  thought  no  sacrifice  too  great,  that  would 
have  enabled  us  to  effect  our  object  in  obtaining  pas- 
sages to  America ;  yet,  when  hs  found  that  instead  of 
himself,  I  was  to  be  left  for  a  while  behind,  he  ap- 
peared at  some  loss  how  to  determine— but  on  being 
fissured  by  the  Consul  that  if  my  life  was  spared  I 
should  soon  join  him,  he  consented  ;  and  being  fur- 


lOO  LIVE   AND 

niched  by  the  Consul  with  a  few  necessary  articles  c? 
eloathing,  I  the  next  day  accompanied  him  on  board 
the  packet  which  was  to  convey  him  (o  America— 
and  after  giving  him  the  best  advice  that  I  was  cap- 
able of  as  regarded  his  behaviour  and  deportment 
while  on  his  passage,  and  en  his  arrival  in  America, 
1  took  ray  leave  of  him  and  saw  him  no!  again  uniij 
]  met  him  on  the  wharf  on  my  arrival  at  Boston. 

When  I  parted  with  the  Consul  he  presented  me 
with  half  a  crown,  and  directions  where  to  apply  for 
board— -it  was  at  a  public  Inn  where  I  found  many 
American  seamen,  who,  like  myself,  were  boarded 
there  at  the  Consul's  expence,  until  passages  could 
be  obtained  for  them  to  America—  i  was  treated  by 
them  with  much  civility,  and  by  hearing  tht-sn  daily 
recount  their  various  and  remarkable  adventures,  as 
well  as  by  relating  my  own,  1  passed  my  time  more 
agreeably  than  what  I  probably  should  have  done  in 
other  society. 

In  eight  weeks  I  was  so  far  recruited  by  good  liv- 
ing, as  in  the  opinion  of  the  Consul,  to  be  able  to  en» 
dure  the  fatigues  of  a  passage  to  my  native  country, 
and  which  was  procured  for  me  on  board  the  ship 
Carterian,  bound  to  New- York.  We  set  sail  on  the 
3th  April,  t  823,  and  after  a  passage  of  42  days,  arriv- 
ed saie  at  our  port  of  destmaticn.  Afttr  having  expe- 
rienced in  a  foreign  land  so  much  ill  treatment  from 
those  from  whom  I  eouid  expect  no  mercy,  and  for 
no  oiher  fault  than  that  of  being  an  American,  I  could 
not  but  flatter  myself  that  when  I  bid  adieu  to  tha$ 


•V  ISRAEL  1 

country,  I  should  no  ^longer  ije  tjiq  .subject  <$;  .uajutt 
persecution,  or  nave  occasion W complain  af' ill  ir eat* 
ment  from  those  whose  duty  it  was  to  afford  me  pro- 
tection.  But  the  sad  reverse  which  1  experienced 
while  on  board  the  Carterian,  convinced  me  of  the 
incorrectness  of  my  conclusions.  For  my  country's 
sake,  I  am  happy  that  I  have  it  in  my  power  to  s-»y 
that  the  crew  of  this  ship>  was  not  composed  alto- 
gether of  Americans— there  was  a  mixture  of  all 
natiens  ;  and  among  them  some  so  vile,  and  destiiu^ 
of  every  humane  principle,  as  to  delight  in  nothing 
so  much  as  to  sport  with  the  infirmities  of  one,  who*c 
grey  lock*  ought  at  least  to  have  protected  him.  By 
those  unfeeling  wretches  (who  deserve  not  the  name 
of  sailors)  1  was  not  only  most  shamefully  ilUused 
on  the  passage,  but  was  robbed  of  some  necessary 
articles  of  cloathing,  which  had  been  chaiitably  be- 
stowed on  me  by  the  American  Consul. 

We  arrived  in  the  harbour  of  New-York  about 
midnight,  and  such  were  the  pleasing  sensations  pro*> 
duced  by  the  reflection  that  on  the  morrow  I  should 
be  indulged  with  the  priviledge  of  walking  once  more 
on  American  ground  after  an  absence  of  almost  50 
years,  and  that  but  a  short  distance  now  separated  me 
from  my  dear  son,  that  it  was  in  vain  that  1  attempt- 
ed to  close  rny  eyes  to  sleep.  Never  was  the  morn* 
ing'*  dawn  so  cheerfully  welcomed  by  me.  I  solici- 
ted and  obtained  the  permission  of  the  captain  to  be 
early  set  on  shore,  and  on  reaching  which,  I  did  not 

forget  to  offer  up  my  unfeigned  thanks  to  that  Al« 
9* 


102 


>  whtf  had  toot  or-iy  sustained  me 
•ing  tny  Wavy  afflicii<ih»  'abfoAd,  but  had  finally  re- 
stored  me  te  my  native  country.  The  pleasure  that 
I  enjoyed  in  viewing  the  streets  thronged  by  those, 
who,  although  I  could  not  claim  as  acquaintances,  1 
could  greet  as  my  countrymen,  wa»  unbounded,  I 
felt  a  regard  for  almost  every  object  that  met  my  eye, 
because  it  was  American. 

Great  as  was  my  joy  on  finding  myself  once  more 
amor  g  my  countrymen,  1  felt  not  a  Tittle  impatient 
for  the  arrival  of  the  happy  moment  when  I  should 
be  able  to  meet  my  eon.  Agreeable  to  the  orders 
which  I  received  from  the  American  Consul,  I  appli- 
ed to  the  Custom  House  in  New-York  for  a  passage 
from  thence  to  Boston,  and  with  which  I  was  provid- 
ed on  board  a  regular  packet  which  sailed  the  morn- 
ing ensuing—  in  justice  to  the  captain,  I  must  say 
that  I  was  treated  by  him  as  well  as  by  all  on  board, 
with  much  civility.  We  arrived  at  the  Long  Whaif 
in  Boston  after  a  short  and  pleasant  passage  I  had 
been  informed  by  the  Consul,  previous  to  leaving 
London,  of  the  name  of  the  gentleman  with  whom 
my  son  probably  lived,  and  a  fellow  passenger  on 
board  the  packet  was  so  good  as  to  call  on  and  in- 
form him  ot  my  arrival  —  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes 
after  receiving  the  information  my  son  met  me  on 
the  wharf  I  Reader,  you  will  not  believe  it  possible 
forme  to  describe  my  feelings  correctly  at  this  joy  fu! 
moment  I  if  you  are  a  parent,  you  may  have  some 
conception  of  them  j  but  a  faint  one  however  unless 


O?  ISRAEL   ».   POTTER.  W3 

you  and  an  only  and  beloved  child  have  been  placed 
in  a  fcimilar  situation. 

After  acquainting  myself  with  the  statt  of  my 
boy's  health,  8cc.  my  next  enquiry  was  whether  he 
iound  the  country  as  it  had  been  described  by  me, 
and  how  he  esteemed  it— *  well,  extremely  well  (was 
his  reply)  since  my  arrival  I  have  fared  like  a  Prince, 
I  have  meat  every  day,  and  have  feasted  on  American 
puddings  and  pies  (suth  as  you  used  to  tell  me  about) 
until  I  have  become  almost  sick  of  them  !""  I  was 
immediately  conducted  by  him  to  the  house  of  the 
gentleman  with  whom  he  lived,  and  by  whom  1  was 
treated  with  much  hospitality — in  the  afternoon  of 
the  day  succeeding  (by  the  earnest  request  of  my 
son)  I  visited  Bunker-Hill,  which  he  had  a  curiosity 
te  view,  having  heard  it  so  frequently  spoken  of  by 
me  while  in  London,  as  the  place  where  the  memor- 
able battle  was  fought  and  in  which  J  received  my 
wounds. 

I  continued  in  Boston  about  a  fortnight,  and  then 
set  out  on  foot  to  visit  once  more  my  native  State. 
My  son  accompanied  me  as  far  aa  Roxbury,  when  1 
was  obliged  reluctantly  to  part  with  him,  and  pro- 
ceeded myself  no  farther  on  my  journey  that  day. 
than  Jamaica  plains,  where  at  a  public  house  I  tarri- 
ed all  night — from  thence  I  started  earty  the  nest 
morning  and  reached  Providence  about  5  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon>  and  obtained  lodgings  at  a  public  Inn 
Hi  High- Street. 

It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  acquaint  my 


*•*  LIFE   AND    ADVENTURES 

ders  that  as   1  had  left  my  father  possessed  of  very 
considerable  preperly,  and  of  which  at  his  decease  I 
thought  myself  entitled  to  a  portion  equal  to  that  of 
the  other  children,  which  (as  my  father  was  very  e- 
eonomical  in  the  management  of  his  affairs)  1  knew 
could  not  amount  to  a   very  inconsiderable  sum  ;  it 
Tras  to  obtain  thU  if  possible,  that  I  becawe  extreme- 
ly anxious  to  visit    immediately  the  place  of  my  na- 
tivity—accordingly the  day    after  1  arrived  in  Provi- 
iclence.  I  hastened  to  Cranston,   to  seek  my  connex- 
ions if  any  were  to  be  found  ;  and  if  aot  to  seek  among 
the  most  aged  of  the  inhabitants,  some  one  who  had 
not  forgotten  me,  and   who  might  be  able  to  furnish 
me  with  the  sought  for  information.     But,  alas,  loo 
•oon  were  blasted  ray  hopeful  expectations  of  finding 
something  m  reserve  far  me,   that  might  have  affor- 
ded me  a  humble  support,  the  few  remaining  years 
of  my  life.     It  was  by  a  distant  connexion  that  I  was 
informed  that  my  brothers  had  many  years  since  re- 
moved to  a  distant  part  of  the  country — that  having 
credited  a  rumour  in  circulation  of  my  death,  at  the 
decease  of  my  father   had  disposed  of  the  real  estate 
of  which  he  died  possessed,  and  had  divided  the  pro- 
ceeds equally  among  themselves  !     This  was  anoth- 
er instance  of  adverse  tortune  that  I  had  not  antici- 
pated!— it   was  indeed   a  circumstance   so  foreign 
Ironi  my  mind    that  1  felt  myself   for  the  first  lime, 
tinhappy,  since  my  return  to  my  native  country,  and 
even  believed  myself  now  doomed  to  endure,  among 
»y  own  counirymen  'vfor  whose  liberties  1  had  foughlt 


G*    ISRAEL   R.    POTTER.  105 

and  bled)  miseries  ilmilar  to  those  that  had  attended 
me  for  many  years  in  Europe.  With  these  gloomy 
forebodings  I  returned  to  Providen«e,  and  contract- 
ed for  board  with  the  gentleman  at  whose  house  I 
had  lodged  the  Hist  night  of  my  arrival  in  town,  and 
to  whom  for  the  kind  treatment  that  1  have  recei?ed 
from  him  and  his  family,  1  shall  feel  till  death  under 
the  deepest  obligations  that  gratitude  can  dictate ;  for 
I  can  truly  say  of  him,  that  1  was  a  stranger  and  he 
took  me  in,  I  was  hungry  and  naked)  and  he  fed  and 
cloathed  me. 

As  I  had  never  received  any  remuneration  for  ser» 
vices  rendered,  and  hardships  endured  in  the  cause 
of  my  country,  I  was  now  obliged,  as  my  last  resort> 
to  petition  Congress  to  be  included  in  that  number  of 
the  few  surviving  soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  for 
whose  services  they  had  been  pleased  to  grant  pen- 
sions—and I  would  to  God  that  I  could  add,  for  the 
honour  of  my  country,  that  the  application  met  with 
iis  deserving  success— but.  although  accompanied  by 
the  deposition  of  a  respectable  gentleman  (which  de- 
position I  have  thought  proper  to  annex  to  my  nar- 
lative)  satisfactorily  confirming  every  iact  as  therein 
stated— -yet  on  no  other  principle,  than  that  /  was  ab- 
sent from  the  country  it/hen  the  pension  law  fiassfd—my 
Petition  was  REJECTED  !  !  I  Reader,  I  have  bee n 
for  30  years  (as  you  will  perceive  by  what  I  have  sta- 
ted in  the  foregoing  pages)  subject,  in  *.  foreign  coun- 
try; to  almost  all  the  miseries  with  which  poor  hu- 
man nature  IB  capable  of  being  inflicted — yet)  in  DO. 


106  LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES 

one  instance  did  I  ever  feel  so  great  degree  of  a  dev 
pression  of  spirits,  as  when  the  fate  of  ray  Petition 
was  announced  to  me!  1  love  too  well  the  country 
vhich  gave  me  birth,  and  entertain  too  high  a  respect 
for  those  employed  in  its  government,  to  reproach 
them  with  ingratitude  ;  yet,  it  is  my  sincere  prayer 
that  this  strange  and  unprecedented  circumstance)  of 
withholding  fiom  me  that  reward  which  they  have 
so  generally  bestowed  on  others,  may  never  be  told 
in  Europe,  or  published  in  the  streets  of  London,  least 
it  reach  the  ears  of  some  who  had  the  effrontery  to 
declare  to  me  personally,  that  for  the  active  part  that 
I  had  taken  in  the  «  rebellious  war"  misery  and  star- 
vation would  ultimately  be  my  reward  I 

To  conclv»de«*althcugh  I  may  be  again  unfortun- 
ate in  a  renewal  of  my  application  to  govenment,  for 
that  reward  to  tviich  my  services  so  justly  entitle 
me — yet  1  feel  thankful  that  I  am  priviledged  (after 
•nduring  so  much)  to  spend  the  remainder  of  my 
days,  among  those  who  I  am  confident  are  posses- 
sed of  too  much  humanity,  to  see  me  suffer ;  and 
which  I  am  sensible  I  owe  to  the  divine  goodness* 
which  graciously  condescended  to  support  me  un» 
dei  my  numerous  afflictions,  and  finally  enabled  me 
to  return  to  my  native  country  in  the  79th  year  of 
my  age— for  this  1  return  unfeigned  thanks  to  the 
Almighty  ;  and  hope  to  give  during  che  remainder 
of  my  life,  convincing  testimenies  of  the  strong  im- 
pression which  those  afflictions  made  on  my  mind, 
fcy  devoting  myself  sincerely  to  the  dunes  of  religion. 


01?   ISRAEL  A.    FOTTE&.  JOf 

DEPOSITION  OF  JOHN  VTAL. 
f  JOHN  VIAL  of  North  Providence,  in  the  county 
of  Providence,  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  on 
oath  certify  and  say,  that  sometime  in  the  latter  part 
of  November  or  the  beginning  of  December  A.D. 
1775---  1  entered  as  gunner's  mate  on  board  the 
Washington,  a  public  armed  vessel  in  the  service 
of  the  United  States,  and  under  the  command  of 
S.  Martindale,  Esq«— said  vessel  was  sent  out  by 
order  of  Gtneral  WASHINGTON,  from  Plymouth 
(Mass.)  to  cruize  in  Boston  harbour  to  intercept 
supplies  going  to  Boston,  ther*  in  the  possession  of 
the  British  troops.  Alter  we  had  been  out  a  short 
time,  we  were  captured  by  a  British  20  gun  ship, 
called  the  "  Foy  "  and  weie  carried  to  Bcstor,  wher* 
we  remained  about  a  week  and  were  then  put  on 
board  the  frigate  Tartar,  and  sen*  to  England  as 
prisoners'—and  1  the  sa<d  John  further  testify  ard 
say,  that  1  well  remember  lsr.M-1  K  Potter,  now  re- 
siding in  Cranston,  who  was  a  mariner  on  board  the 
Washington  also — said  Potter  entered  about  the  time 
1  did  and  was  captured  and  carried  to  Eagland  with 
me.  We  arrived  in  England  in  January  1776,  we 
were  then  put  into  the  Hospital,  the  greater  part  of 
the  crew  being  sick  in  consequence  of  the  confine- 
ment during  the  voyage,  where  many  died — 1  remain- 
ed in  imprisonment  about  sixteen  iror.ths  when  I 
tnncle  my  escape— what  became  of  sakt  Potter  after* 
wards  1  do  net  know  bin  I  have  not  the  least  doubt 
lie  remained  a  piiboner  until  the  ptace  1783  as  he 


10S  U*B    AMD  ABVENTUAP.S  »?  ScC. 


stated  in  his  application  for  a  pension—  I  have  a* 
doubt  he  suffered  a  great  deal  during  his  captivity. 
According  to  my  best  recollection  nearly  one  third 
of  the  crew  died  in  the  hospital—  -1  do  remember  an 
affair  which  took  place  during  our  voyage  to  England 
which  caused  Potter  to  suffer  a  great  deal  more  than 
perhaps  he  otherwise  would—  a  number  of  the  crew 
of  the  Washington  formed  a  plan  to  rise  and  take  the 
Frigate  but  was  defeated  in  their  purpose,  among 
%vhom  I  believe  Potter  was  one,  and  in  consequence, 
put  in  irons  for  the  remaining  part  of  the  voyage  with 
a  number  of  others.  And  1  the  said  John  do  further 
testify  that  I  do  not  know  of  any  of  the  said  crew  of  th4 
Washington  now  being  alive  except  said  Potter  and 
myself-—  and  that  I  do  not  believe  it  to  be  in  the  pow- 
er of  said  Potter  to  procure  any  other  testimony  of 
the  above  mentioned  facts  except  mine. 

JOHN  VIAL. 

Rhode  Island  District—  Providence  Aug   6,  1823. 

The  said  John  Vial,  who  is  well  known  to  me  and 
is  a  creditable  witness,  made  solemn  oath  to  the  truth 
of  the  foregoing  doposition  by  him  subscribed  in  my 
presence.  DAVID  HOWELL. 

DISTRICT  JUDGE. 


ERRATA. 

In  page  82,  15th  line  ftom  the  top  for  "  a  child  but 
six  years  of  age"  read  •'  a  child  but  seven  years  of 
age" — In  page  82,  sixth  line  from  the  top,  for  "  six- 
pence per  week"  read  "  sixpence  per  day"— In  ad. 
diticntothe  above  some  few  typographical  errors  of 
vcrds  m  prrperly  spelled,  escaped  the  notice  of  thfc 
publisher,  until  too  late  to  correct  them. 


M92562 


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